Danger Comes at Twilight
by Andi Mason
Summary: This is an interactive story. The ducks are trapped in a strange castle, and the protagonist has a chance to help them if you can help her make the right choices. The story is now complete by the way, so check out the Day Three Begins chapter if you've already read the beginning of the story.
1. Beginning

**Note from the author:**

 **This is a type of interactive story, and there are choices to made if you want to find the ending you seek.**

 **Although this kind of story can be fun to read and even to write, it takes a lot of work to create. Instead of just writing one plot with one ending, more have to be created and that requires a lot of time and effort. But I've always wanted to write a story with choices after having been exposed to these kinds of books as a kid. And it was fun, so I hope you enjoy it as well.**

 **Before you begin, I want to warn you that no choice, no matter how trivial it may seem, is without consequences. Some choices you will make very early in the story are crucial to what kind of ending you will reach, so it's important that you help the protagonist make the right choices, so she can help the ducks.**

The Beginning

"Uh, hello? Is anyone there?"

Mira Smith pushed herself up from the cold ground and looked around. A gray mist hovered thickly in the air, preventing her from seeing where she was, and Mira clutched her arms as the icy grip of the cool air wrapped around her.

 _Where am I? A second ago it was sunny and warm in Anaheim, California._ But then she remembered the strange flash of light and the strange, yet powerful sensation of being pulled away.

"Hello? Can someone tell me where I am?" she called out.

 _Guess there's nothing to do but stumble on through this fog_ , she thought with a sigh. Stretching her hands out in front of her, Mira stumbled through the cold air. As she pressed on, a dark shadow seemed to take shape ahead of her. It rose above the mist until she began to realize that it had to be massive structure … bigger than any house she had ever seen.

After a few more minutes, the red sun, hanging just above the horizon, finally shone out beyond the mist, and in the fading light of dusk, the dark shape was revealed to be a stone castle. It had at least four towers and was surrounded by a crumbling wall.

Mira stared up at it in stunned silence. _So I guess I'm not in Anaheim anymore…unless I somehow landed in a secret, abandoned theme park_. She wondered how she would get home, and how on Earth she ended up in a such a strange place.

The temperature seemed to drop another few degrees, and Mira shivered as she walked across an old bridge that led to the castle's entrance. Everything seemed to be in ruins around the outside of the castle, but Mira couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't alone. Still, she pulled open of the large wooden doors and peered inside.

Torches lit the walls inside, and Mira took a deep breath as she walked through the door. Without her pulling on it, the heavy wooden door swung shut behind her, and Mira started and backed away.

But the rush of footsteps from behind her caused Mira to swing round and see two figures appear out of a corridor with weapons drawn. Still, she felt some relief when she recognized them. The one with darker feathers and a golden sabre was Duke L'Orange, and the other, holding a gun of some kind, with light feathers and red hair was Mallory.

"You're the Mighty Ducks," Mira said with a smile. "So then, I am still in Anaheim. Maybe you can tell me what's going on."

They watched her with surprised, yet wary expressions, and Mira noticed that they weren't lowering their weapons.

"Who are you?" Mallory demanded.

Mira put her hands up to show that she was unarmed.

"My name's Mira Smith, and I live in Anaheim. I've been to a few of your games."

Duke lowered his sabre and motioned for Mallory to follow suit.

"How'd you get here, kid?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. I don't even know where _here_ is."

"You didn't see or talk to anyone before or after coming here?" Mallory asked suspiciously.

"No. The last thing I remember is leaving class. I'm a student at Anaheim University."

Duke leaned over and whispered something to Mallory. She nodded and then said to Mira,

"We don't have a lot of time to talk, but you can follow us into the dining hall and we'll try to figure this out."

They turned and began walking away without hesitation.

"Okay, but is this Anaheim or not?" Mira pressed as she slowly followed them.

"Fraid it's not," Duke answered.

They led her past two staircases that stretched away towards opposite wings of the castle, and beyond this was a large room with a fire burning brightly in a massive hearth. The other four ducks were either standing or sitting around the long dining table.

"We have a guest," Mallory announced and gestured to Mira. "But she can't seem to remember how she got here."

Mira opened her mouth to defend herself, but Duke spoke first.

"This is Mira Smith. And it looks like we need to offer her a place to stay for the night."

"When did we open up a hotel?" Nosedive asked with a half-hearted laugh from where he sat at the table.

Wildwing walked closer, and Mira noticed that he and all of the other ducks seemed less than pleased to have a visitor.

"We're not trying to be inhospitable, but it would be far better if you did not stay here overnight, Miss Smith."

"Mira," she insisted. "And look, I'm sorry if you weren't expecting company, but I don't know how to get home. It's not like I caught a ride on a bus to get here."

"Yeah, we know," Tanya said with an understanding tone.

"Well, if you know, then maybe you could explain it to me," Mira pressed. "How did you get here, and what are you all doing here?"

"It's not something we can talk about," Mallory answered.

The light behind the windows in the opposite wall started to grow dim, and all of the ducks appeared to grow more uneasy.

"The sun is setting," Wildwing said as a strange weariness crept into his tone.

He gestured for Mallory, Tanya, and his brother to follow him. Each of them trailed after him with an expression of sad reluctance.

"Where are they going?" Mira asked, turning to Duke.

"We all have our own concerns around this time of day. But if you want to look after yourself, then take my advice. Go find a room high in the east wing and lock yourself in for the night."

"Why not the west wing?" Mira asked with a smile. "Or is there a beast there?"

Her joke was not received well, and Duke's expression grew colder and more distant. Behind them, Grin rose from the table and walked towards some doors at the other end of the dining hall. Mira's smile faded as she noticed how lowered his head and slack shoulders.

When she turned back to Duke, he was standing before fire blazing in the hearth with his back towards her. The time for asking questions seemed to be at an end.

"Well, good night, then," Mira ventured as she rose and walked out of the room.

With one last glance, she saw Duke standing alone as if he was waiting for something. Then she focused her attention on the stairs and the east wing.

 **Okay, time for your first choice.**

 **If you want Mira to take Duke's advice and look for a bedroom, click on D1 East Wing in the chapter selection.**

 **If you want her to ignore Duke's suggestion and check out the castle, click on D1 Explore.**


	2. D1 East Wing

D1 East Wing

 _Everyone else has left, so maybe I should go find a bed of my own_ , Mira thought to herself. The empty hall had begun to feel darker and lonelier with each passing second. And surely, Duke had given her the advice for a good reason, though she couldn't guess what that was at this moment.

Mira turned her attention to the staircase on the left as she thought to herself, _The sun was setting on the opposite side when I walked in, so this must lead to the east wing_. She put her hand on the banister and began climbing the large stone steps. Duke had indicated that she should look for a room on one of the upper floors, so Mira passed the second floor and chose the third.

There were no torches lit here, but the dim light from a large window at the end of the hall allowed her to see several doors along the corridor. Most of them were closed, and when Mira tried one of them she found that it was locked.

"Well, this won't do me much good if they're all like this," she muttered, and then she wondered if they were locked because someone was already staying there. There could be lots of people staying here, but the cold greeting she had received from the ducks made her think otherwise. She felt that she was very much a surprise … and an unwelcome one.

Looking ahead, she saw two rooms that appeared to have open doors. One was one the left side of the hall, and the other was on her right. Mira walked cautiously to them and peered inside.

The one on the left had a door with silver filigree on it, and the furniture inside appeared equally fancy. The canopy bed and the curtains were made from a rich blue fabric. But Mira noticed quickly that the air felt rather cold in this room.

Moving to the opposite room, Mira noticed gold décor here with a green bed and similar curtains. The temperature in this room felt more comfortable, but she realized that the furniture was covered by a thick layer of dust.

Stepping back out into the hall, Mira glanced from one room to the other. She was starting to feel a desire for sleep hang over her, but which room should she choose?

 **If you think Mira should choose the first room, choose D1 Blue Room.**

 **If you think Mira should choose the second room, choose D1 Green Room.**


	3. D1 Explore

D1 Explore

"Hmm, so it's that old of line of go upstairs and go to bed," Mira muttered as she looked up at the steps. "But without any answers? I mean, I have no idea what this place or what's going on here."

Mira surveyed the staircases with disdain as sense of hot obstinacy welled up in her along a tempting dose of curiosity _. I'm not tired, and I need to know more. They can't just dismiss me and send me off to bed. Something is definitely wrong here, and I should be told what it is._

Turning her gaze to the right, Mira noticed a passage on the main floor that seemed to lead to an area of the castle that she had not seen yet. As the last bit of sunlight faded from the windows, Mira grabbed a torch and entered into the corridor.

The passage was narrow, but it soon opened up into a larger chamber. Here there were several doors standing partially open. One led to a private chapel, another to a room that looked like an armory, and there were a few other empty rooms. But Mira's attention was most drawn to a door that opened up to reveal a set of stairs descending beneath the castle.

She raised the torch over them, but she would have to descend to see what was down there. Mira listened for a moment, but the whole castle seemed to have grown strangely silent. As she began to walk down the steps, Mira felt that even her soft footsteps seemed unnaturally loud.

At the base of the steps, a small room opened up, and Mira noted that it looked like some kind of study or …medieval laboratory. There were dusty vials, lots of books, and strange smells hung in the air. It looked as though it had been abandoned for some time, and Mira was just about to turn and leave when she heard the clink of something metal hit the floor.

Turning around quickly, she waved the torch ahead of her, but she couldn't see anyone. But the light from the flame struck something that gleamed on the stone floor, and Mira walked over and found two keys, lying just as if someone had dropped them. One was silver, and the other was gold. But they did not appear tarnished or dusty like the other items in this room.

"Is someone there?" Mira asked, looking around again.

But there was no answer, and she pocketed the keys. But then she noticed a book lying on a stand in the middle of the room. There was a loose piece of parchment stuck in it, and as Mira drew closer, she saw two symbols on it. One was a prisoner in chains drawn with what looked like silver ink, and the other was a small object hidden behind a bright light, and this second image shone like it had been etched in gold on the page.

 _ **(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter G somewhere. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)**_

Mira leaned in to examine it closer, but a sudden wind swept down the steps and swirled through the room, extinguishing her torch with the force of its gust.

"No, no!" Mira cried as she found herself enveloped by darkness.

Stumbling to the steps that led back to the main floor, she found a bit of light still faintly glowing from the upper hall, but as she started to clamber back up the steps, a dreadful sound caused her to halt.

Something like a cross between a howl and cry of rage was carried down the steps by another cold breeze, and Mira felt herself tense as goosebumps rose all over her arms. The sound was so full of anger and hate that it didn't need words to express the malice behind it. Mira couldn't imagine that the ducks… or any human … or any animal could make such a horrifying sound. The only word that came to her mind that made any sense at all was… monster.

Seconds… or minutes passed as the unnatural stillness took over the castle again. Mira found that she had crouched against the wall that ran alongside the steps. Was this why Duke had told her to go upstairs and hadn't he even said "lock yourself in"? That idea was suddenly sounding like a good one.

Forcing her feet to move up the stairs, Mira peered out into the space beyond the door, and it didn't seem that anything had changed, except that the other torches along the wall seemed to have been extinguished. A few that still contained some glowing embers. And then Mira saw a warm light streaming out from the other side of the hall, and she realized that there was an entrance to the dining hall with its great fireplace. Perhaps Duke was still there, and she could ask him what going on.

Or there was the corridor she had used to enter this part of the castle. She could sneak back down the corridor and try to make her way to the staircases that would lead her upstairs. Of course, without a torch, it would quite dark, but surely even in the dark, she could find her way.

 **Time to make another choice.**

 **If you believe Mira should try to follow the light of the fire and see if Duke is still there, select** **D1** **Dining Hall.**

 **If you believe Mira should go back the way she came, select D1 Turn Back.**


	4. D1 Blue Room

D1 Blue Room

"I may not have many allergies, but I think everyone's allergic to dust," Mira said as she turned her back on the green room and walked into the blue and silver one.

As she entered it, Mira felt a draft of air coming from the window. She walked towards it, assuming it had been left open, but as she brushed aside the curtains, she realized it was broken as if someone had thrown an object through the left side.

"Well, I guess the window's going to stay open," she sighed, turning away.

Still, the bed appeared to have a warm blanket and some furs laid out upon it, but before Mira climbed into it, she stopped beside a large silver mirror on the wall. Her reflection was so clear and lifelike that she felt a bit unnerved by it in the dark.

A tiny light suddenly shone out in the mirror, and she backed away as she looked for the source of the light. But she could see nothing of its origin in the room itself.

The light grew slightly larger until it seemed to press right up against the glass, and then suddenly it faded as two objects clattered onto the floor.

Mira walked closer and picked them up. They were two separate keys, one silver and one gold. A sudden idea entered her mind, and she walked back out into the hall to try the keys on the gold and silver doors. But they did not fit.

Feeling slightly disappointed, Mira walked back into the room and stared at the mirror again.

"Hello?" she asked, feeling a bit ridiculous.

But the mirror remained dark, showing only her reflection.

"You can't expect me to believe this is a normal mirror now," she said, attempting again to provoke a response.

A cold wind blew into the room from the shattered window, and Mira tucked the keys in her pocket as she shut the door to the bedroom.

 _ **(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter S somewhere. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)**_

As another cool breeze tried to wrap itself around her, Mira climbed into the bed and pulled the blankets over her until she found some relief from the cold. Sleep found her quickly as she sunk into a pocket of warmth.

The night drifted on peacefully for Mira at first, but in the midst of a deep slumber, a nightmarish cry of desperate and eager rage filled the darkness. Mira awoke with a gasp as she sat up as the cold air of the room struck her face. Without even feeling fully awake, she stumbled off of the bed and crept to the window.

She could see the waning moon shining in a gloomy sky, but its dim light did not reveal the source of that awful noise. Suddenly, another howl arose, and Mira ducked down beside her window in terror for the sound was paralyzing.

"I've never heard an animal or anyone make a sound like that," she said in a whisper.

Mira cast a glance back at the bedroom door. This monster sounded like it was wandering around outside, but she remembered Duke's suggestion that she should "lock" herself in. She crawled to the door and turned the lock, but as she glanced back at the bed, she didn't feel very sleepy any more.

 _I don't really want to know what that was_ , she thought. _And yet, I feel like I need to know what it was. But would I really dare to leave this room?_

 **If you think Mira should crawl back in bed and wait out the night in the bedroom, select D1 Go Back to Sleep.**

 **If you think, Mira should find out what is going on, select D1 Investigate.**


	5. D1 Green Room

D1 Green Room

"So what's the problem with little dust?" Mira said with shrug as she walked inside the Green Room.

She started to pull back the blanket on the bed, and the movement stirred up a cloud of dust that was visible in the air. Mira coughed and waved her hands to fling the dust away from her face.

"Or a lot of dust," Mira said in disgust.

The best solution just seemed to entirely get rid of the whole blanket covering the bed and hope that the sheets below it were in better shape. So with some sneezing and sputtering, she threw the blanket off, but as she did so, she heard a metallic clink as something more solid hit the floor.

Kicking the blanket aside, Mira leaned down and saw something shiny just under one corner of the bed. The numerous dust bunnies that had collected under the bed were a bit deterring, but she finally forced herself to reach in and draw the objects out. Her hands touched paper underneath the solid items, so when she was done brushing away the dust, she had two individual keys and a few pieces of old parchment paper.

One of the keys was silver, and the other was gold. Mira thought of the two rooms that had been left open, and she quickly walked back to the hall. The doors must have been left open because someone had lost these keys, but as she tried to stick the gold one into the lock on the first door, she realized that it was too big.

"It is an odd shape," she mumbled as she turned it over in her hand. "But maybe the other door…"

She turned to the silver door, but neither key fit there either.

"Well, so much for solving that mystery," Mira huffed as she walked back into the green room as she put the two keys in her pocket. She closed the door behind her and sat down upon the bed, which was much improved with the dusty blanket removed.

The parchment pages caught her attention, and she brushed the rest of the dust off as she settled into the bed to read them. They contained the story of an alchemist. The first few pages contained a mostly uninteresting history, but Mira read on as she tried to figure out why someone would keep them and what the story had to do with this castle.

And then she reached the bottom of the third page, which told of the alchemist's work with a woman, whom he never named, but referred to as a witch of great power. And this is what it said…

 _And she taught him many dark secrets, but above all things he loved the metals of the earth and the plants from which he gained much knowledge. And if he made anything for his dark mistress, she asked only for silver, for it was cold like her heart. But the alchemist always loved gold best, and he believed it held the greater power._

 _ **(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter G somewhere. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)**_

Mira read on for a few more moments, but even as her mind tried to raise questions about the story, she began to grow tired, and finally she fell asleep surrounded by the pages.

The night drifted on peacefully for Mira at first, but in the midst of a deep slumber, a nightmarish cry of desperate and eager rage filled the darkness. Mira awoke with a gasp as she sat up amidst the pages. Without even feeling fully awake, she stumbled off of the bed and crept to the window.

She could see the waning moon shining in a gloomy sky, but its dim light did not reveal the source of that awful noise. Suddenly, another howl arose, and Mira ducked down beside her window in terror for the sound was paralyzing.

"I've never heard an animal or anyone make a sound like that," she said in a whisper.

Mira cast a glance back at the bedroom door. This monster sounded like it was wandering around outside, but she remembered Duke's suggestion that she should "lock" herself in. She crawled to the door and turned the lock, but as she glanced back at the bed, she didn't feel very sleepy any more.

 _I don't really want to know what that was_ , she thought. _And yet, I feel like I need to know what it was. But would I really dare to leave this room?_

 **If you think Mira should crawl back in bed and wait out the night in the bedroom, select D1 Go Back to Sleep.**

 **If you think, Mira should find out what is going on, then select D1 Investigate.**


	6. D1 Dining Hall

D1 Dining Hall

The light of a fire sounded good to Mira, and she hurried into the dining hall. Being careful to avoid making too much noise, she slowly, but firmly closed the door behind her.

As she faced the large room, Mira saw with a mixture of relief and dismay that it was empty. On the one hand, it felt safe to be back in a lighted room with a warm, crackling fire in the hearth. But where was Duke?

After a moment more of searching the room with her gaze, Mira walked towards the fire and stuck her hands out to warm them. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Perhaps she had only imagined that dreadful noise that she thought she heard before.

Looking around again, she saw the doorway that she had used to enter this room before with Duke and Mallory. Going back out that way would still allow her to get back to the staircases if she wished to go upstairs.

After a second more of lingering by the fire, she started to walk towards it, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her shadow, cast by the firelight, trailing along the opposite wall as it mirrored her movement. Suddenly, she halted and stared back at that same wall with wide eyes.

There was her shadow doing just what it should, but only inches away from hers was another shadow. Mira tensed and looked around for the shadow's owner, but whoever it was should have been standing beside her… only there wasn't anyone around her.

Bolting for the open door to the hall, Mira started to run out of the dining hall, but the untethered shadow flew across the room with a rush of speed and appeared on the walls just where she wanted to go. At first, she feared that it was trying to catch her, and she stopped and backed away from the door. But then she saw its hands extended – not as if it was trying to reach for her – but as if it meant to just stop her from going out that way.

And there was something not quite right about the head of this shadow. It would have seemed the wrong shape for a human, but was it…?

Her thoughts were interrupted by another terrifying roar. And this time, it was accompanied by the sounds of things being shattered and broken. All of these noises seemed much closer than before.

"It's just out there," Mira realized under her breath, not sure if she was speaking to herself or the shadow. "What do I do?"

The shadow drifted away from the door and pointed to a partially enclosed nook in the far corner of the room. Mira followed it and when she drew closer, the hand of the shadow pointed to the floor. There was a wooden trap door amidst the stones. Mira tried it and found that it was unlocked. It seemed to lead down into a small cellar.

"Thanks," Mira said as she looked around for the shadow, but she lost sight of it as she climbed down into the cellar.

As she gently lowered the door above her head, Mira felt what seemed like heavy footsteps enter the dining hall. Judging from the sound, whatever that creature was, it seemed to be smashing some of the chairs, but it wasn't coming any closer to her hiding place. When the noise died down, Mira felt suddenly weary, and she laid back against some of the musty sacks and fell asleep in the dark.

 **You've completed Day 1 of the story. To move on to Day 2 and more choices, select D2 Morning in the Cellar from the chapter list.**


	7. D1 Turn Back

D1 Turn Back

 _A walk through the dark is not so bad if you know where you're going_ , Mira decided. She turned back down the hall that she had used to find this area, and the thought of escaping this darkness to find a comfortable bed sounded encouraging.

Although she tried to walk quietly, Mira felt that her footsteps seemed terribly loud on this stone floor. Her eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness to mostly allow her to see her way. But as she reached what she guessed was about the half way point in the corridor, she heard a crash from the outer hall.

Mira froze as loud grunts and howls succeeded the sound of more things being broken. A statue near the opening of the corridor was thrown down and smashed. And then a monstrous shape blocked the dim light at the end of the corridor as its form filled the opening.

The massive shape heaved in the dark with labored breathing as it staggered through the entrance of the corridor. Its eyes dully glowed white as if it was diseased or blinded by some mist. Mira stepped back as her breath caught in her throat, but the creature focused on her with that single movement, and it suddenly began to barrel towards her.

Mira turned and began running back through the corridor. The darkness seemed to surround her, and she used her hands to find the walls on either side.

A cry of malice echoed from behind as the monster seem to grow more enraged at her attempt to escape. But Mira didn't look back. She just kept trying to move faster as she saw a dim light ahead … perhaps the end of the corridor!

A painfully strong grip seized her arm, and Mira tried to resist, but she felt herself being pulled back towards the monster.

And then suddenly a strange force caught her up and pulled her out of that space. And in that split-second, Mira remembered that this was what it was like to be pulled from Anaheim.

When the light cleared, Mira found she was standing on an empty street in Anaheim at night. She was alone, and the monster… and the castle seemed to be gone. But there across the street from her was an empty looking Pond, the ducks' stadium.

"I'm back, but why aren't they?" she wondered.

Something brushed against her leg, and Mira looked down to see parchment pages resting at her feet. She picked them up and saw images of her time in the castle. The last one was of some dark creature seizing her just before she vanished, and there was writing beneath it.

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **It is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D1 Explore), but if you would like to go back to the Introduction, that is certainly an option too.**


	8. D1 Go Back to Sleep

D1 Go Back to Sleep

It seemed impossible that Mira would be able to fall asleep while the echoes of that strange noise haunted her mind, but the bed seemed a lot safer than leaving the room. So Mira crawled back into the bed, and she pulled the sheets up to her face as if to hide herself away from whatever was out there.

Still, she tossed and turned for a few hours, but the castle seemed to have grown quiet again, and finally, she fell asleep in the comfort of a soft bed.

 _ **(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter N somewhere and add it to any letters you may previously have collected as part of the code. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)**_

 **You've completed Day 1 of the story. To move on to Day 2 and more choices, select D2 Morning in Bed from the chapter list.**

 **As a further note, don't be alarmed if you do not collect many code letters in the rest of the story. These were only necessary for the beginning of the story, and they will be referenced later in the story to help you see where your choices lead Mira and the ducks.**

 **But remember to hold onto the letters you have collected!**


	9. D1 Investigate

D1 Investigate

Drawing in a deep breath, Mira reminded herself of how little she knew about this place and even about the ducks. She had seen them play hockey, and she knew they sometimes fought crime, but all of this was a mystery to her. _I'm not getting answers hiding in here_ , she decided.

Mira stood up and unlocked the door. She listened for a moment and then opened it. There was the blue room with its door still ajar across the hall. And all in the corridor seemed quiet and still.

Slipping out of the room, Mira tried to walk with light and soft footsteps to the end of the corridor. When she reached the stairs, she leaned out and looked for any dangers. She still wasn't sure she wanted to meet with whatever had made those terrible noises.

Mira took wary and careful steps as she tried to move quickly down to the main floor. Perhaps she could find the ducks here and ask them what was going on. Surely they must have heard the noises too.

The dancing light on a far wall some yards away from the steps reminded Mira that she had last seen Duke in the dining hall. Perhaps he was still there.

 **To continue the story, you need to select D1 Dining Hall.**


	10. D2 Morning in Bed

D2 Morning in Bed

The bedroom was filled with the light of morning when Mira awoke. It took her a few moments to realize where she was, and then the strange events of the previous night returned to her. _I must have been more tired than I thought to have fallen asleep so quickly_ , she thought.

And then she remembered that she was staying in a castle with the Mighty Ducks, and the thought that she might be able to see them again and get some answers spurred her to climb out of the bed. Mira combed her fingers through her hair as she walked quickly out into the hall and hurried down the steps.

The sound of voices could be heard in the direction of the dining hall, so Mira directed herself back towards that room. As she passed through the door, she saw all of the ducks seated at the long table with an assortment of fruit and bread laid out for breakfast.

"Look who overslept," Nosedive said as he pointed a half-eaten banana at her.

"Help yourself to breakfast," Mallory said as she stood up from the table. "It's on us."

Mira glanced at the food.

"Is there a grocery store around here?"

"That's not what she meant," Tanya said. "There is a price that we pay to be here. The food is just part of that arrangement."

"But it's not for you to worry about," Wildwing interjected quickly.

Mira sat down in one of the empty chairs and grabbed an apple.

"So what was making those awful noises last night?"

She took a bite and waited for an answer, but none of the ducks met her gaze. Nosedive continued eating, and the others poked at their food as if they hadn't slept well.

"You can't pretend you didn't hear it," Mira protested. "And if I'm going to be trapped here, you could at least give me some answers."

"Are you sure you're trapped?" Mallory asked, walking closer to her. "Have you tried to leave?"

"Well, no, but I thought there wasn't a way out. I mean, you can't leave, can you?"

"Our situation may be different from yours," Wildwing sighed. "Why don't finish your breakfast and then try getting out of here? I'm sure you have a home that you want to return to."

Mira stared at him in surprise. His tone did not sound unkind, but the fact that they would encourage her to leave when they seemed to resigned to being stuck felt odd.

"I'm not even sure how I got here," Mira said, hesitantly. "I can't say that I know how to even try to leave."

"There's a gate on the other side of the garden," Duke said. "You can try getting out there."

"Is it unlocked? I mean, have you tried it?"

"It's not locked," Tanya said with a strange certainty.

"Then you've opened it before?"

Nosedive swallowed a beak full of his breakfast, and then said,

"We're not allowed."

Mira noticed that some of the other ducks shot him warning looks, but Nosedive didn't seem to notice as he chugged a glass of milk.

"What do you mean?" Mira scoffed. "Who would stop you?"

"That's not for you to worry about," Wildwing said dismissively. "Just go out and see the gate for yourself. It's best if you don't spend another night here."

Several of the ducks rose from the table at that moment and began to leave the room, leaving no room for further conversation.

"There's a door just beyond that one that will take you out to the garden," Wildwing said as he gestured to the other door leading out of the dining hall.

When they had all left, Mira picked up her apple and walked out. She found the door to the garden without too much trouble and tossed her apple core out into some weeds when she stepped outside.

The garden might have been beautiful once, but that beauty must have been lost ages ago judging from the tangle of overgrown vines and shrubs. And there was rubble all over the place as if statues had been thrown down and crushed by some terrible force. Mira would have never found her way to the gate except that there was one stone path still visible which led from the castle to far edge of the garden.

As she drew near to some stone walls that were still standing around the garden, Mira saw an iron gate formed from two doors of rusted bars. These were connected by with a single latch, which Mira found surprisingly easy to undo despite how old the gate appeared. The doors swung open with a long creaking groan.

Mira looked out expecting to see a road or some of the landscape beyond it, but instead she saw only a mist. Glancing up at the sun, Mira wondered at the thickness of the mist for the day was clear and warm already at this point in the morning. And she began to suspect that Tanya and Wildwing had been right to say that this was indeed an exit.

"Last night was kind of intense," she told herself. "And I could go home. It's not like I actually belong here."

Mira stared at the gateway. It would be easy to close her eyes and walk through it, but something held her back.

"They can't even answer my questions. How am I supposed to help them?" she said, thinking out loud again. "But they do need help, don't they?"

 **So what should Mira do?**

 **If you want her to walk through the gate, then select D2 Choose to Leave.**

 **If you want her to go back to the castle and try to solve the mystery, then select D2 Choose to Stay.**


	11. D2 Morning in the Cellar

D2 Morning in the Cellar

When Mira awoke, the first thing she noticed was the painful sensation shooting through every sore muscle in her body. And next, she was hit by a strong musty smell that filled the dank cellar. She pulled herself up against the ladder leading up from the cellar and tried to massage her stiff limbs.

A bit of light streamed through tiny cracks around the cellar door, so Mira could now see the contents of the cellar. There were a bunch of old crates and sacks covering a dirt floor. Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in hundreds of years, but there was one item that looked very much out of place.

It was a comic book with the title Zontar and a colorful hero on the cover. Mira picked it up and flipped it open. As she did so, a scrap of paper fell out, and Mira caught it.

 _ **(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter Z somewhere. If you have already collected another letter, then add this to it. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)**_

Suddenly, she heard footsteps moving around on the floor above the cellar, and Mira tensed remembering the awful sounds from the night before. She tucked the paper into one of her pockets and set the comic book down on the ladder as she looked for something to defend herself with.

The trap door was pulled open form above, and the light blinded Mira as she raised her arms in front of her defensively.

"Are you all right?" Wildwing's voice asked as he stretched hand down to help her out.

"Yeah," Mira said, but her voice sounded a bit hoarse, and she coughed before trying again. "I'm okay."

She took his hand and picked up the comic book as Wildwing helped draw her out. Tanya walked up and handed her a cup of water, which Mira quickly accepted. When her throat felt better, she spoke again.

"There was something tearing through the castle last night. What was it?"

Tanya turned her gaze away, and Wildwing sighed.

"I know you must have a lot of questions, but there are conditions here you don't know about. And unfortunately, we can't explain them to you."

That statement only raised more questions for Mira, but then she remembered the shadow on the walls last night, and she walked past Wildwing and Tanya until she was standing in the middle of the dining hall. Her eyes scanned the walls, but she didn't see the shadow.

Nosedive was the only other one in the room with him, and he had been standing off to the side, eating a banana.

"Hey, you hungry?" he asked. "That's the only good thing about this place is there's always food at mealtimes."

Mira turned and noticed that the long table was almost covered with fruit and bread.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

Nosedive stuffed his beak with the last of his banana and shrugged.

"The food appears on the table three times a day," Wildwing said. "And that's all we can say."

"I don't understand," Mira sighed. "You can't tell me because you don't know… or you don't want to… or because it's impossible for you to tell me?"

Nosedive swallowed and asked,

"Wait, what was the second option?"

"It's the last one," Tanya cut in. "We literally cannot tell you."

 _Okay_ , Mira thought to herself. _That doesn't make a lot of sense, but fine, if that's the rule._

She looked down and saw the comic book rolled up in one of her hands, so she walked up to Nosedive and held it out.

"I'm guessing this yours?"

Nosedive's face lit up.

"Awesome! I thought I lost it after our first night here. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem. I found it in the cellar while I was hiding from whatever it is we can't talk about."

Nosedive's expression grew more serious.

"I'm gonna go catch up on my reading," he said as he walked out.

"So it must be fun not being able to talk about anything that really matters," she said, turning back to Wildwing and Tanya.

"We're getting used to it, but you being here isn't helping," Wildwing said. "I think it's time for you leave."

"But I don't even know how I got here."

"There's a gate on the eastern edge of the garden. I'm pretty sure you can get out that way," Tanya said.

"But I could be miles from Anaheim. And I don't even know what country I'm in," Mira protested.

"I doubt we're in any place you've ever heard of," Wildwing said. "To be honest, we don't even know where we are. But as Tanya said, we're pretty sure there's a way out through that gate."

"So why don't you leave? I mean, I guessing you're not on vacation here, right?"

"It's not that simple for us," Wildwing said with a tone of strange finality.

Mira looked at both of them with some hesitation.

"Do you really want to spend another night here?" Tanya asked.

"You can't give me any answers?" Mira pressed one more time.

"No," Wildwing said firmly. "Now go before you lose your chance."

The solemn expressions on their faces finally left Mira feeling as if she had no other choice, and she let them show her to a door in the rear of the castle that led out to the garden.

"Goodbye, I guess," she said with some reluctance, but they were already turning away and leaving.

The garden might have been beautiful once, but that beauty must have been lost ages ago judging from the tangle of overgrown weeds and shrubs. And there was rubble all over the place as if statues had been thrown down and crushed by some terrible force. Mira would have never found her way to the gate except that there was one stone path still visible which led from the castle to far edge of the garden.

As she drew near to some stone walls that were still standing around the garden, Mira saw an iron gate formed from two doors of rusted bars. These were connected by with a single latch, which Mira found surprisingly easy to undo despite how old the gate appeared. The doors swung open with a long creaking groan.

Mira looked out expecting to see a road or some of the landscape beyond it, but instead she saw only a mist. Glancing up at the sun, Mira wondered at the thickness of the mist for the day was clear and warm already at this point in the morning. And she began to suspect that Tanya and Wildwing had been right to say that this was indeed an exit.

"Last night was awful," she told herself. "And I could go home. It's not like I actually belong here."

Mira stared at the gateway. It would be easy to close her eyes and walk through it, but something held her back.

"They can't even answer my questions. How am I supposed to help them?" she said, thinking out loud again. "But they do need help, don't they?"

 **So what should Mira do?**

 **If you want her to walk through the gate, then select D2 Choose to Leave.**

 **If you want her to go back to the castle and try to solve the mystery, then select D2 Choose to Stay.**

 **As a further note, don't be alarmed if you do not collect many code letters in the rest of the story. These were only necessary for the beginning of the story, and they will be referenced later in the story to help you see where your choices lead Mira and the ducks.**

 **But remember to hold onto the letter (or letters) you have collected!**


	12. D2 Choose to Leave

D2 Choose to Leave

"I'm done with this," Mira said as she brushed the ducks' cares from her mind. "It's time for me to go home."

She strode forward through the gate without a second glance, and in mere seconds, she felt herself being drawn out of one place and pulled into another.

When the mist cleared, she saw that she was standing in front of her apartment building in Anaheim with the warm sun shining down upon her.

"I'm back," she said with some relief.

But when she went to take a step forward, her foot landed on something, and she looked down to see parchment pages on the sidewalk. Picking them up, Mira saw images of the castle. She could see the ducks too. Each one of their faces was marked by an expression of despair and sadness. Mira felt a pang of guilt as she looked at the images. She might have been free, but they were not. And it didn't look like they were in a position to free themselves.

The last page was a picture of her sitting on the couch in her apartment with a happy expression, but in the background, there was a model of the castle with its prisoners. And the words below the picture said:

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **If you wish to return to the story, it is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D2 Morning in the Cellar or D2 Morning in Bed – depending upon how Day 2 began for you), but if you would like to go back to an earlier point, that is certainly an option too.**


	13. D2 Choose to Stay

D2 Choose to Stay

As she stood before the gate, Mira glanced over her shoulder at the castle. Even in the daylight, it still had somewhat of an ominous appearance. Pieces of its towers were crumbling, and there was this sense that something cruel and powerful had overtaken it, letting it fall into decay.

"Okay, so the ducks can't help you figure out what's going on here, and it seems fairly dangerous… but why should that mean that I have to give up and leave?" Mira asked herself. "And if I leave now, I definitely won't get any answers about who sent me here and why."

She stepped away from the gate and considered her options once more, but only for a second. Regardless of what the ducks had said, it just didn't seem right to leave.

"Guess I'm staying," Mira decided as she started to trace her path back through the garden.

If the ducks weren't able to answer her questions, perhaps she could get more information from the castle itself. After she walked back inside, she decided to held towards the east wing on the main floor to see what lay on that side of the castle. She didn't see any of the ducks as she walked through the hall, but when she reached the far east side of the castle, she found two wooden doors that opened into a library.

 _Seems like a good place to look for answers_ , Mira thought as she walked inside, and saw shelves of books that stretched from floor to ceiling in a room that was shaped a bit like an astronomy tower. It even had an antique telescope sitting beside a window at the top of a curved staircase.

As she stepped inside, Mira caught sight of Tanya standing on a ladder, gathering books. As she started to descend with one arm full of books packed under her beak, Tanya's left foot slipped and missed a rung on the ladder. Mira rushed forward to steady her, but it was too late, and Tanya landed on top of her as they were both knocked to the ground.

Tanya quickly stumbled up apologetically and looked surprised when she saw who it was.

"Oh, I thought you'd be gone. Couldn't you find the gate?"

"Yeah, I found it, but I'm not ready to leave," Mira said as she sat up on the floor. "Although if you throw a few more books at me, I might reconsider."

She picked up a book that had landed on her chest and waved it in the air.

"Sorry," Tanya said again as she reached out to help Mira up.

Mira accepted the aid, but after Tanya pulled her up, the duck drew her arm back and cradled her wrist with a look of pain.

"Sprained. Just what I need."

"Can I get you something?" Mira asked. "I mean, I don't where anything is, but I want to help."

Tanya let go of her wrist and adjusted her glasses as she studied Mira.

"Thanks, but I'll tend to it."

She picked up a few more books and sneezed.

"Uh, I miss computers. These books and their dust aggravate my allergies."

"What are you looking for?" Mira asked as she helped collect some of the books: _Dreams and Visions, Life Revealed in Art,_ and _The Demons Hidden Inside._

"The same as you probably," Tanya said with smile. "Answers, right?"

"So you don't really know why you're here either?"

Tanya grew quiet.

"That's one of the things we can't talk about, but I'll just say that are some things we don't understand."

Mira frowned as a bit of her frustration returned.

"Can you at least tell me what your questions are?"

Tanya shook her head.

"You might be able to guess, but look, some bad stuff happens here. Don't you think it's time for you to go home?"

Mira gazed back at Tanya's face. It looked like she really did want to open to Mira, but there was something holding her back.

"I guess I'm just going to have to figure all of this out for myself," Mira said. "And no, I'm not ready to leave yet. I mean, if there was a mystery to solve, would you give up so quickly?"

Tanya smiled.

"Well, maybe not. But I do get homesick sometimes."

Mira looked down at the last book in her hands, _Managing Macaws and Cockatoos_.

"Well, I don't see how this going to be helpful," she said skeptically handing the book to Tanya, who seemed to take it with some hesitation. "So I think I'll wander the castle a bit more. It's not dangerous right now, is it?"

"No, it's only at night that you need to be careful. Things are usually pretty quiet during the day."

"Do you know where the other ducks are?"

"Nosedive usually wanders outside, so you might check by the stables. I think I saw Duke and Wildwing go upstairs. And Mallory and Grin walked towards the west wing."

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you later," Mira said as she walked back towards the entrance.

Tanya only nodded, but she fingered the book in her hand with a look of regret.

 **You can now have Mira go and converse with each of the ducks to see if anything else can be learned about their situation, but if you want to move on with the choices in the story, then select D2 Wildwing from the chapter selection.**

 **If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 (their name). It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.**


	14. D2 Nosedive

D2 Nosedive

Upon entering the stable, empty stalls distinguished by cobwebs and musty hay were the only things that greeted her. Mira found herself a little disappointed that there were no horses, but then again, given the state of the castle, why should she be surprised?

But Nosedive didn't appear to be here either. After a moment more of looking around, she sighed and walked out of the stable. But a noise caused her to halt just outside the door, and she turned around and looked up.

"Yo, I thought I heard someone down there!"

Mira stared up at him in surprise. There seemed to be a loft above the stable, and Nosedive was leaning out of one of its windows.

"Nosedive, what are you doing up there?"

"Climb up and check it out, girly-girl."

Mira looked around and saw some bales of hay stacked on the side of the stable. Clambering up them took a bit of effort, and some grunting and groaning, but Nosedive helped pull her up when she had nearly reached the top.

Once inside the loft, Mira saw that Nosedive had several crates sitting about like tables. There were a few support posts, and between these, he had stretched a crude hammock.

"Welcome to my place," he said as he lay down in the hammock with a sigh of contentment.

"It's uh… something," Mira finally said. "Why not choose a room in the castle though?"

Something like a mixture of fear and discomfort passed over Nosedive's expression, but he brushed it away quickly.

"It's Snoozeville in there. Besides, I wanted my own headquarters."

He held up a comic book and opened it as he settled into his hammock. Mira sat down on one of the crates.

"So how long have you and the other ducks been hanging out here?"

"Dunno, Tanya was keeping track, but things are a little strange-zinsky around here. Don't think any of us knows now."

Mira stared at him.

"You can't remember how long it's been since you arrived? Has it been that long?"

Nosedive shrugged.

"That's not normal, Dive," Mira insisted. "Doesn't that worry you?"

"Would it help?" he asked, lowering the comic book.

Mira wasn't sure how to answer that.

Nosedive sat up and said,

"Look, it's not that I don't wanna get out of here, but… yeah, I can't talk about it."

Mira crossed her arms.

"You don't seem like the type to keep quiet about things… or to sit back and miss out on the action."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I got a choice this time," Nosedive said with resentment creeping into his tone.

"You could let me try to help you," Mira suggested.

"Who said I was tryin' to stop you?" Nosedive asked as he laid back in the hammock and opened the comic book.

Mira stood up with a frown and walked to the place she had climbed in.

"Not that way. Take the fast route," Nosedive said, looking up for a moment and gesturing to the middle.

As she walked to the center of the loft, Mira saw that there was an opening to the lower stable and a pile of hay waiting below it. But she hesitated and turned back to Nosedive.

"All right, in the spirit of trying to help you, I'll tell what I'm thinking. Since none of you can tell me what's going on, I'm gonna have to see it for myself. So tonight, instead of hiding out in a room somewhere, I'm going to stay out and see what happens."

Nosedive's uneasiness seemed to return, and he sat up in the hammock though he appeared hesitant to speak.

"You don't have anything to say to that?" Mira prompted.

"It's your decision," Nosedive said defensively. "But things get a little spooky around here at night. You might be sorry you didn't try to hide."

"Maybe, but I'm getting some answers one way or another," Mira insisted and then she turned and jumped down onto the hay.

 **If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 _(their name)_ from the list. It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.**


	15. D2 Grin

D2 Grin

On the main floor of the west wing of the castle, a rounded wooden door decorated with a small circle of stained glass led to the chapel. As she walked inside, Mira saw rows of wooden benches lining a path. At the far end, a larger stained-glass window nearly stretched across the entire wall. It was beautiful with the light shining behind it, but as Mira tried to examine the shapes and colors, she found that she could not determine what they were supposed to be.

In one of the benches, she found Grin sitting silently by himself. Mira slid in beside him and wondered why he seemed so sad and downcast.

"This is a beautiful room," she said, trying to break the awkward silence.

"It should be a place of peace, but like so much here, it is a mockery," he said in his usual deep tone.

Mira looked around the chapel again, and for the first time, she noticed that the lower righthand side of the window had been broken as if some large figure had smashed through it. A cold draft of air swept through from the outside from the opening.

"Why stay in here then?" she asked.

"Some are looking for answers, but I have come to face reality here. We cannot change our circumstances."

"I just meant we could move to a warmer room … like one without holes?"

Grin seemed resigned to stay.

"Why don't you come with me to find some of the other ducks?" she urged.

"No, they do not wish to see me," Grin sighed.

Mira looked at him in surprise, and she started to open her mouth to protest, but Grin's expression displayed his certainty.

"Okay, well I hope you change your mind," she finally said as she rose and started to walk out.

Mira paused and looked back at him when she reached the door. Of all the ducks, she felt that Grin seemed be suffering the most, even during the hours of daylight, from whatever tormented him at night.

 **If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 _(their name)_ from the list. It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.**


	16. D2 Mallory

D2 Mallory

When Mira found Mallory, she appeared to be sitting in some kind of armory. There were a lot of old weapons around the room, but most of them seemed to be poor shape. Mallory was seated on a bench examining a crossbow.

"You're still here?" she said without really looking up.

"Yeah, and please don't give me the same warning I've heard over and over again today," Mira interjected. "I get that things can be dangerous here at night."

"Sure, you do," Mallory scoffed with a cynical smile. "But that's not what I was going to say. I was going to ask why all this matters to you."

"Oh. Well, it didn't seem right to leave you all behind. And who's going to be Anaheim's hockey team if you're stuck here?"

"Now that's something I miss," Mallory sighed. "There's no ice here, in case you didn't notice."

Mira nodded.

"We've just got to hurry up and get you all back to the Pond then."

"Oh sure. It's that easy."

Mallory stood up and raised the crossbow as if she preparing to fire it at a torn tapestry on the opposite wall, and Mira started to back up, but she bumped into small table. A glass statue of a rearing horse toppled onto the floor and shattered.

Mallory dropped the crossbow and sunk back against the wall.

"Oh man," Mira muttered as she put her hand to head. "I'm sorry. I'll get something and clean this up."

Then she looked up at Mallory and saw the strange expression on her face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Mallory said, but her reply sounded forced.

Mira walked over and picked up the crossbow, but when she tried to hand it back, Mallory wouldn't take it.

"I'm not gonna get it to work anyway," she said as she walked away. "I'll get something for the glass."

Mira watched as Mallory left the room rather quickly and wondered why she seemed so unsettled.

 **If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 _(their name)_ from the list. It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.**


	17. D2 Duke

D2 Duke

Taking the stairs to the second level of the castle, Mira found an ornate archway above the entrance to one corridor. As she entered under it, she saw several paintings hung on each side of the hall. Standing in the middle of the corridor was Duke L'Orange. He didn't turn towards her as he remained still and studied a painting.

"Still here, eh?" he finally said as she approached.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stick around for a bit longer."

"A bit could become a long time if you're not careful," Duke warned.

"Well, it would be nice if someone went over the rules of this place. Maybe then I'd know what was I getting into."

"Rules?" Duke scoffed with an amused expression as he faced her. "Kid, no one really understand the rules here."

"Well, you obviously know more than I do," Mira protested.

"The only one you really need to know is to hide yourself somewhere secure when night falls. Though like I said, it might just be better for you to try to leave sooner rather than later. Even if you do get some answers, no one's sayin' you're gonna like what you find."

Mira considered that for a moment.

"Just tell me this. If you could leave, you would want to, right?" she asked.

Duke grew quiet before finally saying.

"That's a more complicated question than you know. But yeah, I guess if I could leave, _with_ my friends that is, then I would."

"So you're all in some kind of trouble here?" Mira said. It was really more of an observation than a question. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, not really, kid, but that's sweet of you to ask."

Mira crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm getting a little tired of being told… 'You should leave.' or 'There's nothing you can do.' There has to be something you can tell me."

Duke returned to looking at the painting in front of him. It appeared to be a castle wrapped in mist, but the forms appeared a little rough.

"Ya know, if I had to be stuck somewhere, why'd it have to be with terrible art? This piece here is pathetic."

Mira cast a skeptical gaze it.

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty bad. Is that important for some reason?"

Duke shook his head as he started to back away. Mira turned her attention the painting on her left.

"This one here looks a little better. The way the artist portrayed the light from the candle on the wall is interesting, but what's this?"

She pointed to a dark shape behind the candlelight. Duke stopped and followed her gaze. His expression grew more serious and a strange coldness entered his tone when he said,

"It's a shadow."

"Whose shadow?" Mira persisted. "The candle is just sitting on a table by itself."

Duke turned and began walking away as he said,

"Yeah, that's the point."

He left her alone in the hall, and Mira glanced back at the painting with an impatient glare.

"Well, that explains nothing. There should be a painting here of someone running into walls, because that would definitely be me."

 **If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 _(their name)_ from the list. It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.**


	18. D2 Wildwing

D2 Wildwing

When not talking with the ducks, Mira spent the rest of her day exploring the castle until she had better idea of how to navigate it. But in all of her wandering, she had not yet seen Wildwing.

She returned to the dining hall twice to get something to eat during the day. Some of the ducks had been in and out as well, but they didn't seem eager to talk anymore.

It was not until the sun had drifted low in the sky that Mira finally found Wildwing standing on a balcony on the second level of the castle. Without speaking, she walked out and followed his gaze to the horizon.

To her surprise, Mira saw that although the sky was clear enough, the land around the castle, especially what lay beyond the outer wall was hazy… almost as if it was some kind of illusion.

"Have you tried going out there?" she asked.

"There's nothing there," Wilding answered gravely. "A few yards beyond the wall… the ground just stops and you can't go any further. This place pretends to be majestic and mysterious, but it's just a prison."

Mira listened quietly.

"It's brave of you to try to find answers," Wildwing continued. "But really, it all comes down to this place being our prison. It doesn't have to be yours."

"It's not," Mira said, meeting his gaze. "I've never felt like there wasn't a way out for me. But that doesn't mean that I have to leave."

Wildwing offered her a faint smile, but as the sun sank lower, he turned back to the horizon and appeared uneasy.

"The sky is clear, but you look like you're bracing for a storm," Mira said as she studied him.

"I always feel this way around sunset," he admitted. "It's not so much the _storm_ that worries me as the damage I'm afraid it will cause."

"You're worried something will happen to you and your teammates?"

Wildwing closed his beak, and Mira dropped the question. But then he walked away from the balcony and quickened his pace as he headed for the stairs. Mira followed after him and found that she had to hurry to keep up as he returned in haste to the dining hall.

"It's time," he said as he entered the room where he teammates were now gathered.

Mira walked in just behind him, but suddenly Wildwing was starting to leave again with Nosedive, Mallory, and Tanya following him. Duke stretched out one arm towards the mantle and leaned against the hearth as he stared at the flames. And when Mira looked for Grin, he seemed to have already disappeared.

"Come, Mira," Wildwing urged when he saw she hesitated.

Mira looked back at Duke, who seemed resigned to stay.

"Go on upstairs," he said without meeting her gaze. "You can't stay down here."

Still not moving, Mira frowned and started to object, but Wildwing called to her again, and his tone was more insistent this time.

Mira turned and walked out in to the hall. Wildwing and the others were heading up the stairs towards the west wing. Nosedive paused on the steps and looked down at her. There was something serious in his gaze that stirred a sense of caution in her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel there was a plea there as well… a plea to do something he could not.

 **If you think Mira should follow Wildwing, Nosedive, Tanya and Mallory upstairs, select D2 The West Wing.**

 **If you think Mira should go back to the dining hall, select D2 Return to Find Duke.**


	19. D2 The West Wing

D2 The West Wing

"What's the deal with the West Wing in this castle?" Mira wondered as she made up her mind to follow them.

Even Nosedive had moved on, and as Mira moved towards the steps, she saw that they were heading to the third floor. She hesitated only for a moment, and then she darted up after them.

When she finally reached the corridor on the third level, she saw Wildwing standing out in the hall.

"It's time for you to be in your own room," Wildwing said as he saw her approach.

"I came to help you," Mira insisted. "I know there's not much time, so tell me, what can I do?"

Wildwing hesitated for a moment and then drew out a set of keys.

"I can't explain why, so don't ask. But each night I lock Mallory, Tanya, and Nosedive away in a room. But if you would, then tonight I want to you lock me up too, and keep the keys hidden with you."

Mira took the keys from him.

"All right, I guess I can't wait for an explanation."

"One more thing," Wildwing said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "You must keep the doors locked and not return to this wing of the castle until after dawn. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Let's go then. Tanya, Mallory, and Nosedive are in that room. Go and lock the doors. I'll head to the room across the hall."

Mira nodded and hurried off to follow his orders. As she approached the door to the large room, she saw Nosedive standing with slumped shoulders on one side of the room while Tanya sat on the floor below a bird cage that hung from a stand, and Mallory lay down upon a bed. They all appeared to fear and loathe whatever was coming, but Mira didn't stop to think about what that was. She locked the doors to the room and tested them to be sure they were secured.

Next she moved to the room where Wildwing sat upon a bed. She hesitated for a moment, but when he nodded, she also closed and locked the door to his room. As she stepped away and started to leave, the sun sank into darkness outside the window at the end of the hall.

Mira felt an ominous mood sweep over the castle, but she was about to continue on when she heard a sound from the room where Nosedive, Mallory, and Tanya were locked away. _Probably best to keep moving_ , she thought.

But the sound came again, and this time it sounded like a call… perhaps a call for help. _What if they need something?_ Mira wondered.

Returning to the double doors, Mira pushed aside the warnings in her mind and used the key to unlock them. Entering, she half closed the doors behind her, but she was quickly stopped by what she saw.

"It can't be," she said in a tone of disbelief.

On the bed, where Mallory had lay down, was a glass figure and the perfect copy of Mallory's face, form, clothes, and armor. But it was motionless as if she was frozen and yet only made of glass. And in the moonlight, she appeared so fragile that Mira dare not touch her. She feared that if she breathed too heavily that this glass figurine would break.

On the other side of the room, Mira turned and saw Nosedive, standing exactly as he had been except that his head hung lower. But it was not Nosedive – or at least not as he should have been, for here was a statue, a stone figure unable to move or speak.

A noise from the part of the room closer to the door caused Mira to turn again. And she saw a yellow bird with purple wings sitting in a cage with the door open. It looked like some kind of cockatoo with a tuft of yellow feathers on its head, but Mira quickly realized it was Tanya.

"Help…help," the bird said plainly, and Mira walked towards it with a sad gaze.

"Oh, Tanya. Can you hear me?"

The bird turned its head, but it's blank gaze seemed devoid of all understanding and intelligence.

"Can you hear me?" the bird repeated. "Can you hear me?"

"Tell me how to help you," Mira asked.

"Help you, help you!" the bird chanted.

"You're cursed to only repeat what's said to you. Is there nothing you can say on your own?"

The bird turned its head and looked at her again.

"Help…help," it said with its rough and cackling voice.

Mira sighed, and not knowing what else to do, she turned away to leave and lock the doors again. As she turned her back on the room, she heard a fluttering sound and suddenly something yellow flew past her into the hall.

"No, Tanya!" Mira called as she started to rush after the cockatoo.

As she ran out into the corridor, she saw the bird fly towards the stairs, but Mira glanced back at the doors that stood open upon Mallory and Nosedive.

 **If Mira should stop and consider the situation, select D2 Go Back and Lock the Door.**

 **If she should run after Tanya, select D2 Hurry and Go After Tanya.**


	20. D2 Return to Find Duke

D2 Return to Find Duke

Mira watched the other ducks climb to the third level and disappear down the hall. The inside of the castle seemed to grow darker with each passing second. It wasn't too late. She could run up those stairs to the east wing and crawl in bed to wait for the morning.

 _No_ , Mira thought as she took a deep breath. _I'm going to get some answers tonight._ Everything seemed quiet and still as she turned around and walked back into the dining hall. The only noise was the crackling of the fire in the hearth, but as Mira entered, she saw that Duke was standing against the east wall of the room.

His back was towards her, and he didn't seem to have noticed her return. Mira walked closer and stretched out her hand towards his shoulder. He tensed and whirled around, almost knocking her back defensively.

"What are you still doin' down here?" he asked in surprise. "You should be hiding upstairs."

Mira steadied herself as she returned his gaze.

"Hiding from what?"

Duke shook his head.

"Just get outta here, kid, before… Look, I won't be able to protect you."

"I'm not asking you to," Mira said.

The light outside suddenly seemed to slip away, and Duke turned towards the glass doors with a look of dread.

"Be careful," he said as he faced Mira again, and there was such sorrow in his eyes that she felt a sudden pain in her heart.

Mira started to answer, but she couldn't… due to the shock of what she saw.

As the darkness grew outside, Duke's form seemed to fade. His figure grew dim and shady as if it had no substance to it. And then as if a wind blew through the room, his darkened form was cast to the wall until he became a mere shadow in the firelight.

"Duke!" Mira called as she stretched out her hand to the wall, but she could feel nothing except the cold surface of the marble.

His shadow raised his hand to his beak as if to quiet her, and in that moment, Mira heard a loud cry of anger from the garden. And like a cold breeze, a sudden understanding gripped her.

"That monster that roams outside at night," she realized in a whisper. "Is it…Grin?"

The shadow nodded and seemed to be directing her to hide. Mira heard more noises echoing from outside the castle, and part of her wanted very much to go and hide.

"But what good does that do?" she insisted. "No, I have to figure this out."

 **If Mira should go outside and try to find Grin, select D2 Go to the Garden.**

 **If she should go upstairs and look for Wildwing and the others, select D2 Go Upstairs.**


	21. D2 Go Back and Lock the Door

D2 Go Back and Lock the Door

The cockatoo was too fast to catch, so Mira turned back and locked the doors to the room. _I can't let anything happen to Mallory or Nosedive_ , she thought. Turning around again, she saw Wildwing's door. _This is the only way to get answers_ , she decided, and began to unlock his door at least to get a glimpse of his curse.

As she opened it, she was relieved to see that he did not appear to be made of stone or glass, nor had he been transformed into anything else. He was still Wildwing, but he lay collapsed upon the bed, still breathing, but caught in a seemingly deep sleep. Mira walked closer as she wondered why he would be cursed with only sleep.

Then Mira saw that his fist was tightened around the blanket beneath him. She walked closer and put her hand to his neck. His heart was beating rapidly, and Mira took her hand away.

"This isn't just sleep," she realized, speaking softly aloud. "You're trapped in a nightmare."

Wildwing's form, except for breathing, seemed perfectly still and immovable. Mira tried to shake him, and she called out his name, but nothing seemed to help. Drawing back, she left the room and locked the door again.

 _That's enough of a delay. I must go and try to find Tanya_ , Mira thought as she chided herself for breaking her promises to Wildwing.

Tucking the keys away, she headed away from the doors and back towards the stairs. There was no sign of Tanya now, but Mira kept walking in the direction that she had seen her fly. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the light from the fire in the dining hall illuminating mainly just that room of the castle.

 _Perhaps Tanya flew in there_ , she thought and quickly walked inside. Upon entering the room, she didn't see anyone there. Suddenly a horrific sound echoed from outside the castle, and Mira recognized it as the terrifying sound she had heard the night before.

"What is that?" she whispered under her breath as she shrunk back against the wall.

The sensation that she was being watched caused her to turn around, and she saw a dark shadow on the wall behind her. But it could not have been her shadow. The shape was all wrong.

The shadow moved slightly, and Mira caught a better view of its silhouette.

"Duke?"

The shadow nodded.

Mira looked around at where Duke should have been standing to cast the shadow, and she stretched out her hand to the empty air.

"You're not invisible," she said.

He shook his head and pointed at his own shape on the wall.

"So at night, you're all cursed differently, aren't you? Why?" Mira asked.

Duke's shadow only hovered on the wall in silence. Suddenly, another awful howl echoed from the garden, and Mira drew back against the wall again.

"Is… is that Grin?" she asked.

Duke nodded. He pointed to the doors through which she had entered as if encouraging her to get out of the dining hall.

"I'm looking for Tanya," Mira said softly.

Duke pointed again, and finally, Mira moved and went back out into the main hall. Perhaps Duke knew Tanya was out here somewhere. As she walked back out by the stairs, she heard a fluttering of wings from the east wing. Hurrying towards the library, Mira saw the shape of a cockatoo fly to one of the shelves inside.

"Gotcha," Mira said with some relief.

But then she heard a cry of rage echo down the halls of the castle. Grin was inside now. Mira darted through the doors of the library and turned around as she closed them quickly, but quietly behind her. Fortunately, she found that there was a latch on the inside of the doors that allowed her lock them.

 _I hope he doesn't decide to try to bust in here_ , Mira thought nervously. The door might be closed, but it wasn't really secure considering Grin's strength.

She turned around and saw that Tanya had perched upon one of the library's ladders. She put her head under her wing and appeared to be falling asleep.

 _It's probably best if we don't make any noise_ , Mira decided. And finding a chair in the far corner of the room, she sat down facing the doors. For about an hour, she could hear Grin lurking through the halls making awful noises and smashing things. But when he finally seemed to go back outside, weariness overtook Mira, and she fell asleep.

 **Congratulations! You've helped Mira make it to Day 3 in the castle. She's getting closer to the answers needed to help the ducks. If you are ready to continue, select Day Three Begins.**

 ** _Please leave comments! It helps me improve the story, and it lets me know what you think of the choices._**

 ** _If you decide go back and check out some of the other options in previous sections of the story, then be aware that you should not hold onto more than two code letters._**

 ** _If you go through the story in multiple directions, checking out all options, then you can come across three or more code letters. When reading through Day 3, remember that you can only use (at the most two letters), so you'll have to decide which ones those are going to be if you've gone through the story in multiple directions._**


	22. D2 Hurry and Go After Tanya

D2 Hurry and Go After Tanya

"This is exactly what Wildwing was trying to prevent," Mira said as she darted after the cockatoo. But the bird was too quick, and Tanya was already flying down to the lower level of the castle.

"I've gotta get her back," Mira resolved as she hurried down the steps.

Her footsteps echoed loudly on the stairs as she descended. Tanya started to fly towards the east wing, but Mira tried to cut her off, and so Tanya flew into the dining hall.

As Mira entered, she nearly jumped at the sight of a shadow moving along the wall, which was clearly not her own. But after a moment, she recognized the shape of the figure.

"Duke?"

The shadow appeared distracted by the cockatoo flying around the top of the dining hall with great agitation. Mira looked up and wondered how she was going to get Tanya down, but then she heard a howl that pierced her with terror and then a terrible grunting sound.

Mira was too scared to move at first, but when she dared to peek out into the main hall, she saw a monstrous shape clambering up the stairs. Two thoughts struck her. First, though she could hardly believe it, was that the monster was Grin. And second, the other ducks were lying vulnerable in open rooms on the third floor.

Before this could sink in, Mira felt a strange force seize her and pull her through space and time to the familiar setting of Anaheim. It still night, but everything suddenly felt far less perilous. But as Mira stooped down to pick up some strange pages at her feet, she saw an image of a massive figure battering down a hallway towards two rooms with open doors. And in another image, a shadow reached out uselessly for a cockatoo as it flew towards the open door to a garden.

"What have I done?" Mira asked in horror as she looked at the images and then at a few lines of writing on one of the pages.

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **If you wish to return to the story, it is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D2 The West Wing), but if you would like to go back to an earlier point, that is certainly an option too.**


	23. D2 Go to the Garden

D2 Go to the Garden

"If it's Grin, then there's nothing to worry about," Mira said, trying to calm herself.

Duke's shadow shook its head and waved one hand in the direction of the stairs.

"No, but don't worry. I'll be back," Mira said as she turned and hurried out of the dining hall through the door on the other side of the room.

This exit led her to the rear of the castle where the entrance to the garden was. The air grew colder as she walked outside, and Mira wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped out amongst the weeds.

She followed the stone path with cautious steps, but at first, she couldn't hear anything. If Grin was out here, he didn't seem to be making a whole lot of noise at the moment.

Before long, Mira was out in the middle of the garden – not far from the gate that she had visited earlier that day. All seemed unnaturally quiet except for the sounds of her own feet snapping twigs or crunching dried vegetation on the path. She was beginning to feel rather uneasy out here alone in the dark.

"I'm just out here to talk with Grin," she said to herself. "No big deal, right?"

A low growl answered her, and it seemed dangerously close.

"Grin?" Mira asked, though her voice trembled a bit. "It's just me. Why don't you come out, uh slowly, and we'll talk, okay?"

For a second, there was silence, and then a terrifying roar filled the air around her. Mira felt her nerves break at that awful sound, and before she even knew what she was doing, she was running.

The sound of some monstrous beast crashing through the vegetation followed her, and Mira hardly dared to look back as she kept running. The castle was behind her now. It was too far, and suddenly the gate appeared up ahead.

Mira halted before the gate, but only for a moment. When she looked back, she could see a huge black form racing towards her. It seemed determined to chase down and crush anything that appeared before it, and Mira knew that it would kill her if she stayed.

Darting forward, she ran through the gate and let the castle and its nightmares disappear behind her. She could feel the warm air of Anaheim greet her, and the city appeared as if through a mist.

Mira looked behind her with her heart still racing, but the danger was gone… but so were the ducks. Looking down, she saw pieces of parchment on the ground. They contained images of the castle, and she saw the dining hall with one lonely shadow trapped on its wall and one dark creature stalking around the garden. One piece had writing on it that read,

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **It is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D2 Return to Find Duke), but if you would like to go back to an earlier point, that is certainly an option too.**


	24. D2 Go Upstairs

D2 Go Upstairs

 _I barely know what I'm doing. I'm not ready to face Grin yet_ , Mira thought. _But I could try to go find Wildwing and the others_.

"All right, I'll go upstairs," she whispered to Duke. "But only to look for more answers."

His shadow watched and waited as she walked back into the hall. Mira turned and began climbing the stairs to the west wing. It looked like Wildwing and the other ducks had headed to the third level, so hopefully she would find them there.

When she reached the third level corridor, Mira found that it seemed rather empty and quiet. Most of the doors were shut, but as she reached the middle of the hall, she saw that one door was slightly open.

Pushing it open farther, she saw Wildwing lying upon a bed. Mira tried to wake him, but he seemed immersed in some kind of dream. Her thoughts drifted back to the dark expression on Wildwing's face before sunset. She could only guess that here he faced some kind of dreadful nightmare at the end of each day.

Since it seemed impossible to wake him, Mira started to leave, but then she noticed a set of keys in Wildwing's hand. Mira pulled them out of his grasp, and he stirred uneasily in his sleep.

She backed out of the room still holding them and turned to see a set of double doors on the opposite side of the hall. Judging from their resistance, she supposed they were locked, so she tried the keys until she found one that worked.

The lock clicked, and Mira was able to push open the doors. Entering, she half closed the doors behind her, but she was quickly stopped by what she saw.

"It can't be," she said in a tone of disbelief.

On the bed, where Mallory had lay down, was a glass figure and the perfect copy of Mallory's face, form, clothes, and armor. But it was motionless as if she was frozen and yet only made of glass. And in the moonlight, she appeared so fragile that Mira dare not touch her. She feared that if she breathed too heavily that this glass figurine would break.

On the other side of the room, Mira turned and saw Nosedive, standing exactly as he had been except that his head hung lower. But it was not Nosedive – or at least not as he should have been, for here was a statue, a stone figure unable to move or speak.

A noise from the part of the room closer to the door caused Mira to turn again. And she saw a yellow bird with purple wings sitting in a cage with the door open. It looked like some kind of cockatoo with a tuft of yellow feathers on its head, but Mira quickly realized it was Tanya.

"Help…help," the bird said plainly, and Mira walked towards it with a sad gaze.

"Oh, Tanya. Can you hear me?"

The bird turned its head, but it's blank gaze seemed devoid of all understanding and intelligence.

"Can you hear me?" the bird repeated. "Can you hear me?"

"Tell me how to help you," Mira asked.

"Help you, help you!" the bird chanted.

"You're cursed to only repeat what's said to you. Is there nothing you can say on your own?"

The bird turned its head and looked at her again.

"Help…help," it said with its rough and cackling voice.

Mira sighed, and not knowing what else to do, she turned away to leave and lock the doors again. As she turned her back on the room, she heard a fluttering sound and suddenly something yellow flew past her into the hall.

"No, Tanya!" Mira called as she started to rush after the cockatoo.

As she ran out into the corridor, she saw the bird fly towards the stairs, but Mira glanced back at the doors that stood open upon Mallory and Nosedive.

 **If Mira should stop and consider the situation, select D2 Lock the Door.**

 **If she should run after Tanya, select D2 Run to the Stairs.**


	25. D2 Lock the Door

D2 Lock the Door

The cockatoo was too fast to catch, so Mira turned back and locked the doors to the room. _I can't let anything happen to Mallory or Nosedive_ , she thought. She also decided to walk over and lock Wildwing's door. One of the keys worked for that one as well.

 _No sense if leaving him vulnerable_ , she thought.

Then tucking the keys away, she headed away from the doors and back towards the stairs. There was no sign of Tanya now, but Mira kept walking in the direction that she had seen her fly. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a fluttering of wings from the east wing. Hurrying towards the library, Mira saw the shape of a cockatoo fly to one of the shelves inside.

"Gotcha," Mira said with some relief.

But then she heard a cry of rage echo down the halls of the castle. Grin was inside now. Mira darted through the doors of the library and turned around as she closed them quickly, but quietly behind her. Fortunately, she found that there was a latch on the inside of the doors that allowed her lock them.

 _I hope he doesn't decide to try to bust in here_ , Mira thought nervously. The door might be closed, but it wasn't really secure considering Grin's strength.

She turned around and saw that Tanya had perched upon one of the library's ladders. She put her head under her wing and appeared to be falling asleep.

 _It's probably best if we don't make any noise_ , Mira decided. And finding a chair in the far corner of the room, she sat down facing the doors. For about an hour, she could hear Grin lurking through the halls making awful noises and smashing things. But when he finally seemed to go back outside, weariness overtook Mira, and she fell asleep.

 **Congratulations! You've helped Mira make it to Day 3 in the castle. She's getting closer to the answers needed to help the ducks. If you are ready to continue, select Day Three Begins.**

 ** _Please leave comments! It helps me improve the story, and it lets me know what you think of the choices._**

 ** _If you decide go back and check out some of the other options in previous sections of the story, then be aware that you should not hold onto more than two code letters._**

 ** _If you go through the story in multiple directions, checking out all options, then you can come across three or more code letters. When reading through Day 3, remember that you can only use (at the most two letters), so you'll have to decide which ones those are going to be if you've gone through the story in multiple directions._**


	26. D2 Run to the Stairs

D2 Run to the Stairs

"I've got to get her back," Mira decided as she ran after the cockatoo.

But as she moved quickly down the stairs, she tried not to make too much noise. And this slowed her down a little. But she couldn't forget those awful sounds she had heard Grin making in his cursed state.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Mira saw Tanya fly towards the library, and she started to head in that direction when she heard unnatural growls and things being smashed beneath the great force of an angry beast.

Mira froze and pressed herself up against the wall as she neared the library. When she dared to peek around the corner, she saw a monstrous shape clambering up the stairs. Two thoughts struck her. First, though she could hardly believe it, was that the monster was indeed Grin. And second, the other ducks were lying vulnerable in open rooms on the third floor.

Before this could sink in, Mira felt a strange force seize her and pull her through space and time to the familiar setting of Anaheim. It still night, but everything suddenly felt far less perilous. But as Mira stooped down to pick up some strange pages at her feet, she saw an image of a massive figure battering down a hallway towards two rooms with open doors. And in another image, a shadow reached out uselessly for a cockatoo as it flew towards the open door to a garden.

"What have I done?" Mira asked in horror as she looked at the images and then at a few lines of writing on one of the pages.

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **If you wish to return to the story, it is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D2 Go Upstairs), but if you would like to go back to an earlier point, that is certainly an option too.**


	27. D3 Day Three Begins

D3 Day Three Begins

As a bit of sunlight slipped through the high windows of the library, Mira stirred and slowly came to realize how uncomfortable she felt. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was sitting awkwardly in a very cramped chair, and there was a terrible ache in her neck.

Groaning as she moved her stiff limbs, Mira sat up and rubbed her neck. Rising to her feet, she put her hands on the nearest table to steady herself, and an open parchment caught her attention. It was lying there as if it had been left for her to read, and these were words written upon it:

 _No chains exist to bind you here,_

 _Strong enough are threads of fear._

 _And with the coming of each night,_

 _With a foe of terror shall you fight._

 _One of six may leave the gate,_

 _And so leave the rest to their fate._

 _If in these lines no hope you find,_

 _You've heard them well; be resigned._

 _But if you would waste time considering what you lack,_

 _Let your thoughts dwell on liberty and youth,_

 _While here you remain in lasting bondage,_

 _Naught can you do but repeat this riddle back._

"What is this? Besides bad poetry…" Mira wondered to herself as she stretched out her hand to examine it.

But a noise behind her interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see Tanya drawing herself up from the floor where she also seemed to have ended up. Mira quickly walked over to her.

"Tanya, are you okay?"

Tanya looked around in confusion.

"How did I get here? I was in the room with Nosedive and Mallory before sunset."

"You don't remember anything from last night?"

Tanya looked at her.

"Well, bits and pieces. But I guess you know now that I turn into a brainless parrot at night."

"Yeah, I might have let you out of the room by accident," Mira said apologetically. "But why couldn't you just tell me what happened at night?"

"The curse stopped me. We're not really allowed to talk about it, but now that you seem to know, it's like I can speak more freely about it."

"Can you tell me about this then?" Mira asked as she led her to the table.

But as they approached the parchment, the library door began to shake someone tried to open it and then a fist knocked urgently.

"Tanya! Mira!" voices called.

Mira hurried to the door and unlocked it. Some of the other ducks were standing there with concerned expressions.

"Tanya, are you okay?" Mallory asked as she strode over to her teammate. "We were worried when you didn't awaken in the room with us."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tanya assured her.

Wildwing stepped into the library, but he halted beside Mira.

"You unlocked their door. Why you would do that after I trusted you to help us?"

"I thought I heard someone call for help in the other room. It was Tanya, but I didn't know what had happened to her. I'm sorry, but I didn't realize."

"There's a lot of things you don't understand here," Duke warned. "You can't keep ignoring our advice if you wanna survive around here."

Mira sighed as she looked around at them. Yes, she had taken risks, but she wanted to help them. At the same time, she could see how weary and uneasy they looked, but one of them was missing.

"Where's Grin?"

"He's like sitting out in the garden," Nosedive said with an uncharacteristic sad expression. "He got worried when Tanya didn't come down with the rest of us. I'd better go tell him we found her."

He left, and Mira suddenly realized how much a burden each morning and evening must be to Grin.

"Oh, I see. He was afraid that…"

"He fears for all of us, including you," Wildwing explained. "And if anything should ever happen, he won't forgive himself."

Mira grew quiet, but Tanya moved back to the table and the parchment.

"Hey, guys, come and look at this."

The other ducks gathered around, and Mira moved behind them.

"That's the words of the curse, isn't it?" Duke said as he read the parchment.

"Yeah, it's been so long since the sorceress cast it that I forgot the exact words, but I'm sure this is it," Tanya said.

Grin and Nosedive returned. Nosedive walked to the table to join the other ducks, but Grin hung back.

Mira moved closer and read the lines silently to herself.

"So is it possible for you to leave from the gate as well?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, but only one of us could make it out," Nosedive said. "And then the rest will be cursed for like all time."

"It was a cruel trick of the sorceress to leave a door open, but set a trap on it," Duke sighed. "But none of us is going to leave the others behind."

"So each night, you're cursed by your fears. The same ones or different ones?"

"It's always the same, and yet, the pain and terror seems new each time," Wildwing answered grimly.

Mira turned back to the curse.

"Something seems off about the last lines. … But if you would waste time considering what you lack, let your thoughts dwell on liberty and youth, while here you remain in lasting bondage, naught can you do but repeat this riddle back."

"It just means that there isn't a way out," Mallory scoffed. "The curse can't be broken. But you can say the riddle over and over again in pointless repetition trying to figure it out."

"But why would the curse show up here now?" Tanya asked. "I've spent days in this library, and I've never seen it here before."

"I don't know, but I can't see how it helps us," Wildwing sighed.

"Who cursed you?" Mira asked.

The ducks grew uneasy again and looked at her with closed beaks.

"It's probably better if you don't know," Tanya said. "She might come back and curse you too."

"But if she brought me here, wouldn't she already know I was here? Shouldn't I have already been cursed?"

"I don't know what to tell ya, kid," Duke said. "You being here is as much a mystery to us as all of this is to you."

"I've had enough with this curse. Let's go get some food," Nosedive said as he stretched and started to walk out of the library.

The other ducks followed him, but Mira hesitated. _Something doesn't add up with all of this_ , she thought and her gaze returned to the curse.

Suddenly, the library doors slammed shut, and the room grew darker except for a red light that appeared in the center of the room. It grew brighter until Mira was forced to look away. When she was able to look back, the light had faded and a tall woman in a black and red dress was hovering above the floor with a severe expression. Her hair was mostly black except for one streak of silver running through it, and she held a silver staff in her left hand. Shadows slipped from her form and added to the darkness of the room. Only a dim red glow allowed Mira to see.

"What mortal dares to interfere with my domain?"

Mira felt a little anxious as those dark eyes fixed her with a malicious glare, but at the same time, she hadn't done anything wrong. And there were a lot of questions she wanted answered.

"Uh, hi, I'm Mira, and I think you could have spared me the dramatic entrance. Why don't you just tell me why you brought me here?"

"I did _not_ bring you here," the sorceress said with a cold gaze. "That is why I returned. I sensed that another presence had been drawn into the realm of my curse."

Judging from the seriousness of the sorceress's tone and the scrutiny with which she stared down at her, Mira supposed that she was telling the truth.

"But someone used magic to get me here," Mira insisted. "I couldn't have gotten here on my own."

"Obviously," the sorceress said with disgust.

Mira crossed her arms angrily.

"Okay, fine, new question…Why did you curse the ducks? What could they have possibly done to you?"

The sorceress fingered her staff and said,

"I do not owe you an account of my actions, but I would have you know that I am

Alastrid, Lady of the Dark Zone. Those feathered beasts dared to insult my brother, Asteroth. I could not have our blood disgraced by such a defeat, so they must be punished for their insolence."

"I think they've been punished enough," Mira protested. "They're not your playthings to torment."

"I haven't done anything to them except to initiate the curse," she said with a cruel smile. "The rest they have done to themselves."

Mira studied her… She didn't see how these awful things could keep happening to the ducks unless she was orchestrating it, but then again, she wasn't an expert in curses.

"Hear me, foolish mortal," Alastrid continued. "I came here to tell you to stop meddling in affairs that are not your concern."

"Well, actually it is my concern. You see, I'm from Anaheim, and you stole our hockey team."

"And how much is it worth to you to get them back?"

She snapped her finger and the parchment containing the curse was lifted from the table. It disappeared into a ball of red magic that she suspended in the air.

"Do you want to share their fate?"

That spinning ball of light caused Mira to hesitate, and she grew quiet.

"Did you think you were immune to my power?" the sorceress asked with an amused tone. "Believe me, I can see your fears. And I could do such wonderfully awful things if I cast my curse on you."

Mira tensed as their gazes locked. She felt certain that Alastrid could see her greatest fears. Perhaps it was not wise to provoke this lady.

 **If you believe Mira should back down, select D3 Ask for Mercy.**

 **If you believe Mira should stand her ground, select D3 Resist.**


	28. D3 Ask for Mercy

D3 Ask for Mercy

The cold gaze of the sorceress seemed to pierce Mira's soul, and she felt her confidence shrink. How could she oppose such a powerful being? And yet, what about the ducks?

"I'll go, but only if you give the ducks one night of true rest. They ought to have at least one night of peace."

The sorceress laughed, and the red light around her seemed to intensify.

"Why would I bargain with such a timid little mouse?"

Mira opened her mouth to protest that she would stay, but the fire of resistance waned and seemed suddenly snuffed out by a gust of wind. The red light swept around her and before she knew what was happening, a strong force picked her up and she was transported out to the garden. The force of Alastrid's magic swept her up and began drawing her to the gate as the sorceress appeared above the garden.

Mira looked past her and saw some of the ducks step outside to see what was happening, but they were too far away to help her.

"Farewell, stranger," the sorceress laughed. "You won't be coming back."

Although she tried to struggle, Mira felt afraid as the tentacles of the magic gripped her and tossed her through the gateway. It wasn't until the castle and sorceress faded that her fear started to dissipate.

The sun was shining in Anaheim, and Mira lay on the sidewalk with a parchment page on her chest. She sat up and looked at it. In the image on it, Alastrid was looking down in triumph at the ducks, and the writing said:

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

 **If you wish to return to the story, it is recommended that you go back to the last point in the story where you had to make a choice (D3 Day Three Begins), but if you would like to go back to an earlier point, that is certainly an option too.**


	29. D3 Resist

D3 Resist

Steeling herself against the doubts in her mind, Mira forced herself to stand her ground. She might not have magical powers, but she had to be here for a reason. And the ducks needed outside help if they were ever going to beat this curse.

"I've had enough of your threats. Try practicing your scare tactics on someone else."

Alastrid appeared enraged by the Mira's response, but the swirling red magic seemed to evaporate as the room grew a little less dark.

"You dare challenge my powers?!"

Mira straightened and stood up a little taller.

"I could care less about your powers, but I'm not abandoning the ducks."

The sorceress gripped her staff tighter.

"You will only waste your time. My curse cannot be defeated!"

Mira walked past her and headed for the library doors. She paused in front of them and said,

"If that was true, then you wouldn't care that I was staying."

Mira turned back to the doors and tried to thrust them open. But they were relatively easy to move, and she nearly lost her balance as the doors flew open.

As she stumbled and caught herself, Mira saw that Grin was standing there with a hand on one of the doors. She looked back over her shoulder, but Alastrid was gone, and the library appeared peaceful and quiet again.

"What happened?" Grin asked.

"I met the witch," Mira answered as she walked out into the hall and took a deep breath.

Grin looked back into the room and then moved beside her.

"What did she do to you?"

"Nothing yet, I think," Mira said. "But for a second there, I thought she was gonna let me have it."

Grin looked at her in surprise.

"You have great inner strength. Perhaps we judged you too quickly."

"No, you were probably right to be skeptical," Mira said, shaking her head. "But I do want to help. I know you couldn't talk to me yesterday, but things are different today, right?"

"Yes, they are different," Grin said sadly. "You have seen the darkness within me."

"No, that's not you," Mira insisted. "It's the curse."

"Some of it is the curse, but you do not know what I was in my youth. I was filled with anger. Back then, my rage drove me to cruelty and violence …just as it now does each night."

Mira listened and kept silent.

"I have tried to fight it, but the bad karma from my past is too strong for me."

"Still, there must be a way to break the curse," she urged. "I gonna keep looking for answers."

"Where? The castle has been searched many times."

"I think I get closer to answers after sunset. After all, that's when you and the other ducks need help the most."

Grin shook his head.

"You must stay far away from me at night. I don't want you to get hurt."

Mira gave a slight nod to reassure him.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry about me."

He seemed uncertain, but he stayed quiet. Mira looked around and noticed how quiet everything seemed.

"I think I should talk to everyone again before tonight, so I guess I'll start looking for them."

Mira started to walk away, but then she stopped and turned back to face him.

"Why do you all go off by yourselves during the day? You are friends, but I hardly ever see you spend time together here."

Grin sighed.

"The curse makes us feel isolated. We each have own burdens. And now you know why they do not seek out my company."

Mira shook her head.

"That can't be true. They can't blame you for what happens at night because of the curse. They're still your friends, Grin."

"Will that still be true if I am the reason why one of them does not awaken some morning?"

The solemn expression on his face and the seriousness of his tone left Mira feeling unable to answer. Grin turned and walked off, leaving her alone in the main hall.

"This curse has to be stopped," Mira said to herself. "I have to figure this out."

She looked around the castle and decided to look for the other ducks to see what else she could learn.

 **(There are more choices coming up, but for now you need to move to D3 Talk to Duke to continue the story.)**


	30. D3 Talk to Duke

D3 Duke

When Mira stepped outside the castle, she found Duke walking along the outer wall.

"You humans can be pretty stubborn sometimes, ya know?" he said with a slight smile when she joined him.

Mira shrugged with a faint smile of her own.

"So I'm just going to come right out and ask…do you know why you turn into a shadow each night?"

Duke gave a half-hearted laugh, but behind that, Mira could tell that there was something that was really troubling him.

"I guess it's another cruel trick of hers," he finally said. "You see when everyone else wakes up in the morning, they only remember bits and pieces from that night. But me? I get to see the whole awful thing. I haven't slept in… well, however long we've been here."

"At all? Like not even during the day?"

Duke shook his head.

"My body doesn't feel tired, but the rest of me feels kinda drained."

"Is it the same every night?" Mira asked.

"The curse is the same, but some nights are worse than others. Before we knew how to be careful, we had some close calls. There were some nights I tried to distract Grin to keep him from hurting the others. See, I'm the only one he can't harm."

"Do you always stay in the dining hall?"

Duke paused and leaned up against the wall.

"I tried to leave that room once. But shadows are only visible in light. Whenever I get close to the dark spaces at night, it feels like I might disappear and never show up again."

"Is that why the fire is always built up so big in the hearth at sunset?"

"Yeah, as long as I stay in the dining hall, I'll be able to be me the next morning. But if I was swallowed up in the dark, I'm not sure I would ever come back."

"Have you ever seen anything at night that might indicate how we can break the curse?"

"No, I wish had some kinda solution for you, but I've seen enough to know that the best thing is to stay out of Grin's way."

Mira considered that in silence before speaking again.

"I know this curse has been hard on all of you, but Grin's having a really tough time dealing with this. Have you spoken to him at all about it?"

"And say what exactly?" Duke asked. "Good luck tonight, buddy. Try not to kill anyone?"

Mira shot him a cold look.

"Yeah, that's going a bit far," Duke admitted. "I know it's not his fault. But don't forget that I'm the one who sees what he does each night. I'm the one who's had to try to get him to chase me, because he's been that close to attacking one of our teammates."

Shaking her head, Mira said,

"If you've accepted that he's always going to become that monster, then it's no wonder he's given up too. I'm not sure how to break this curse, but blaming Grin is surely part the problem…not the answer."

Duke had dropped his gaze and grown quiet, but his expression softened when he looked up and looked in her eyes.

"You have a point there," he said. "The truth is we've not really been the Mighty Ducks since we got here. Some of it's the curse, but some of it is on us too."

"The sorceress has made you forget who you are," Mira agreed. "But you don't have to let her do this to you."

"Thanks," Duke said as he put his hand on her arm. "I'll go talk to Grin now."

Mira smiled as she watched him go. Surely this was a step in the right direction.

 **(There are more choices coming up, but for now you need to move to D3 Mallory, Tanya, Nosedive to continue the story.)**


	31. D3 Mallory Tanya Nosedive

D3 Mallory, Tanya, and Nosedive

Mira found that as Grin had said, the ducks all seemed to go off by themselves during the day, but it seemed like it would be a good idea to talk to some of them all at once. Mallory, Tanya, and Nosedive were usually all together at night anyway, so surely they could all talk to her about their curses at once.

But it took some work to find and gather all of them together. She finally managed to get all of them to meet her in the space outside between the stables and the castle.

"Why are we doing this again?" Nosedive asked impatiently.

"Because _not_ talking about it and letting the same thing happen every night is not helping," Mira said.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Mallory asked.

"I get that Grin is dangerous at night, and you all don't really have a way to defend yourselves, but how does locking the door keep you all safe? Couldn't Grin just break through the door?"

"Yeah, of course he could," Nosedive scoffed. "But there are a lot of closed doors in those hallways. Wildwing thinks it gives us a better chance of staying hidden."

"Grin's senses are heightened in his cursed form," Tanya continued. "Having the door closed helps disguise that we're there, especially me, since I make noise sometimes. I told Wildwing to lock me in a different room for their sake, but he doesn't like to do that."

"Grin usually doesn't go upstairs at night unless he's attracted by noise," Mallory said. "But with the door closed, he doesn't seem to ever hear Tanya."

"Do any of you know why you've been cursed the way that you are?" Mira asked. "I mean, why do you turn to glass, Mallory? Or Nosedive, why do you become a statue?"

"I dunno, but it's the worst," Nosedive said gloomily.

Mallory looked away uneasily.

"I don't know about them, but it's an insult to be turned into a cockatoo every night," Tanya huffed. "When I wake in the morning, I can still hear that cackling, hoarse voice repeating nonsense in my head. It's awful."

"At least you can move," Nosedive said. "And fly. You'd think we'd be able to do that as ducks, but we need the Aerowing for that."

"Nosedive, when you wake up in the morning, does anything stick with you from the night before?" Mira asked.

He looked a little uncomfortable with the question, but Mira pressed forward with it anyway.

"Come on, Dive. I need to know what you're facing if we're going to stop this curse."

"I hate the feeling of turning to stone each night," he finally said. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget what that feels like. But during the night, yeah, I'm kinda aware of some things that I remember the next day. It's like being trapped in a tight space. I can't move or make any sound. Sometimes I think I feel vibrations or hear sounds, but I'm just…stuck."

Mira nodded and then she looked at Mallory.

"It's similar for me I guess," Mallory said. "Except sometimes I do almost feel like I could move…or that the world is moving around me, but then I get this falling sensation and I see myself shattering like that statue you knocked over in the armory yesterday."

"Yeah sorry about that," Mira said. "I can see now why it bothered you."

Mallory just looked away.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go look for Wildwing," Mira said. "Now that I've forced you to talk about the most depressing topics in the world, you guys should try to find something better to talk about. Don't let this get you down. We'll figure it out."

"Let's go find something to eat," Nosedive suggested to his two teammates.

Tanya laughed.

"When are you not hungry?"

Mira smiled and walked off in search of the final duck she still needed to talk to before sunset.

 **(You're almost there. Move to D3 Talk to Wildwing to continue the story.)**


	32. D3 Talk to Wildwing

D3 Wildwing

With the arrival of the afternoon, the sun began its waning course. Mira looked up at the sky as she walked around the side of the castle, still looking for Wildwing.

"Time seems to move faster here," she said to herself. "It still seems like it should still be morning."

"Yeah, I'm not sure we have a 24-hour day here," Wildwing's voice said behind her.

Mira started and turned around.

"Sorry," Wildwing said with a smile from where he was sitting on a stone bench. "You found my hiding place."

"Hiding place?"

"Well, I come out to think. It feels more secluded than other places in the castle."

Mira looked around and saw that there were enough trees around to provide some cover, so it did kind of feel like a secret alcove.

"I take it you were looking for me?" Wildwing asked.

"Well, I've talked to everyone else."

"About last night?"

Mira nodded.

"Last night… it looked like you were having a nightmare," she said as she sat down beside him.

Wildwing drew in a deep breath.

"I'm the only one who is truly asleep at night, but my curse is to dream of all the terrible things that can happen to my teammates… and never know until I wake up if what I saw was only a dream or if it was real."

"Do you see things in your dreams that are really happening?"

"Last night I saw you unlock the door to the room where Nosedive, Mallory and Tanya were."

Mira dropped her gaze.

"But I also saw Grin come charging upstairs and burst into their room."

"You saw him…" Mira found that she didn't want to finish that sentence.

"I see terrible things in my dreams. I might have been too harsh in accusing you this morning, but I guess you can see why I was angry."

Mira nodded.

"Since you arrived, my nightmares have shifted to include scenes of Grin hurting you as well."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to cause you any extra worry," Mira said. "It's cruel what the sorceress has done to all of you."

"I suppose it's put all of us on edge," Wildwing sighed.

"After speaking with the others, I fear she's turning you all into her prisoners in more ways than just keeping you trapped at this castle," Mira said. "I think you need to do something to change that."

"How?"

"Well, like when was the last time you did something fun?"

"Fun? Here?" Wildwing scoffed. "That's like a foreign concept in this place."

"Exactly," Mira said. "If you're all miserable, then isn't that the same thing as surrendering to the sorceress's game?"

"I guess I'd never thought of it like that," Wildwing said. "I didn't think we had much of a choice."

"There's always a choice," Mira insisted.

"Well, maybe after dinner, we'll try to do something… fun," he said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what it's going to be, but it would be a nice change."

Mira stood up.

"Let's go find the others. I think I heard Nosedive say something about food."

Wildwing rose as well and started to walk with her.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. He's always up for that."

 **(You're about to enter the last stage of the story. Select D3 Time to Find an Ending to continue. Every choice you make in this last section will lead to an ending for the story. See if you can find the best ending!)**


	33. D3 Time to Find an Ending

D3 Time to Find an Ending

As Mira sat at the table in the dining hall with the ducks, she was relieved to see them looking more like the Mighty Ducks she had seen from a distance in Anaheim. They were acting like teammates and friends again.

The sun was still high enough in the evening sky to give them some more time together before sunset. Mira still wasn't sure how she was going to handle things during this upcoming night, but she knew that she had to try harder to find answers.

Suddenly, the fire in the hearth changed color. The flames began to glow with an odd red light, and then that light sprang into the air, and Alastrid appeared on one side of the room.

The ducks all stopped talking, and Wildwing started to rise as if to move between her and his teammates, but her magic shot out towards the ducks. It swept around them, and they suddenly looked more afraid and less certain than they had before.

"Did you fools really believe you could change the terms of my curse?" she said, staring them down. And then she turned her gaze on Mira. "Congratulate yourself, mortal. You convinced them to give way to false hopes. But this night will be no better than any other."

The sorceress turned her attention to Grin.

"In fact, perhaps it is time for a price to paid to remind you who rules this castle. I've been kind to let you escape injuring each other thus far, but I can certainly change that."

Grin rose from his chair and backed away from the other ducks, but Duke tried to stop him.

"Don't listen to her Gr…" but Alastrid's magic closed around his neck like a rope, and Duke's form grew dark and shadowy.

"I have the power to permanently silence you, fool," the sorceress said. "No one else can help you. Remember that all you can do is save yourself."

She released him, and Duke returned to his normal form as he gasped for breath and leaned upon the table.

"If you had any form of intelligence, you would have tried to escape through the gate."

"And leave the others behind?" Wildwing asked sternly.

"That is the price of your freedom…for one of you anyway," she said with a cruel grin.

Mira walked up to Grin and Duke, but she could tell they were both shaken by Alastrid's words. She stepped in front of them, but she hesitated to speak.

"But you can leave now," the sorceress said, looking again at Mira. "You have no part in this."

Mira stood still.

"I'm not going anywhere. My presence here is the only thing that seems to rattle you."

"You think it's a good idea to challenge me?" Alastrid asked coldly. "Then let's see how well it turns out for your _friends_."

She raised her hand toward the window, and the sun, which was still a few hours from sunset, was suddenly pulled down to horizon at a rapid pace. Grin rushed out of the room, but from the cries that echoed through the hall, Mira knew that he was being forced to transform already.

Tanya transformed in a cockatoo and flew around the room in an agitated manner. Mira looked over and saw Wildwing reaching for Mallory and Nosedive as their figures slowly transformed into glass and stone. But Wildwing collapsed in sleep on the floor, and Duke was flung back against the wall until his form became that of a mere shadow.

Mira ran over to Mallory as she saw her figure wobble, and she caught her and managed to lay her down upon a bench against the wall. Nosedive was frozen as a statue beside the table.

The sorceress laughed as she surveyed the scene, and another yell from Grin echoed through the castle.

"He will come for them," she assured Mira. "He'll destroy you as well if you stay."

Mira cast a glare at her, but she remained by Mallory's side as she tried to figure out what she could do.

Suddenly, a roll of parchment appeared in the air and landed in front of Mira. As it fell open, she recognized the words of the curse again.

She glanced back at the sorceress, but Alastrid appeared as confused by this appearance of magic as Mira did. Mira picked up the parchment and looked over the words again.

 _No chains exist to bind you here,_

 _Strong enough are threads of fear._

 _And with the coming of each night,_

 _With a foe of terror shall you fight._

 _One of six may leave the gate,_

 _And so leave the rest to their fate._

 _If in these lines no hope you find,_

 _You've heard them well; be resigned._

 _But if you would waste time considering what you lack,_

 _Let your thoughts dwell on liberty and youth,_

 _While here you remain in lasting bondage,_

 _Naught can you do but repeat this riddle back._

Tanya, as a cockatoo, landed on a chair near Mira as she looked over the spell. And Mira knew that she had a limited time to figure this out.

"There's something about the end of this that doesn't fit with the rest," she muttered to herself.

 **If you think Mira should read the whole spell out loud, select D3 Repeat the Curse.**

 **If you think Mira should ask Tanya to help her decipher the last four lines, select D3 Ask Tanya.**


	34. D3 Repeat the Curse

D3 Repeat the Curse

Mira held the parchment in front of her and began to read the whole curse out loud.

 _No chains exist to bind you here,_

 _Strong enough are threads of fear._

 _And with the coming of each night,_

 _With a foe of terror shall you fight._

 _One of six may leave the gate,_

 _And so leave the rest to their fate._

 _If in these lines no hope you find,_

 _You've heard them well; be resigned._

 _But if you would waste time considering what you lack,_

 _Let your thoughts dwell on liberty and youth,_

 _While here you remain in lasting bondage,_

 _Naught can you do but repeat this riddle back._

But as she read it, the red light in the room only seemed to grow stronger and more intense. Mira began to feel like she didn't have a choice but to finish reading the curse, but also that somehow it was now gaining power over her. And she wanted it to stop.

The sorceress laughed as the last lines were read.

"And so you have called down the curse upon yourself. Now let your fears be your torment both day and night!"

As Alastrid pronounced this doom, Mira felt her mind grow numb as she slipped into a listless state. She remained awake, but as the cockatoo fluttered in front of her, she was unable to respond.

"The little mortal loved the power to choose, but that power she will have no more!" the sorceress said triumphantly as she disappeared.

And so Mira remained staring off into space, wishing she could have the power to change things or make a decision, but now she was incapable of acting upon any such thought. Though her gaze appeared blank, inwardly, she felt paralyzed by fear.

 **This is Ending #1 for our story. Grin remained distracted enough outside for the other ducks to make it through the night, but when they awoke the next day, they found Mira still in her advanced curse state. And they didn't know how to help her.**

 **But if you want to try for a different ending, you still have choices.**

 **Mira doesn't any choices more thanks to the curse. But you can choose to go back to an earlier point in the story, back when Mira still had choices, and choose differently.**

 **Or the story can end here if you want.**


	35. D3 Ask Tanya

D3 Ask Tanya

There something about the way this curse was written that bothered her. She reviewed the end of that one line _…considering what you lack_. Yes, something was missing. As she looked at the next lines, she realized they didn't have any corresponding rhymes. All of the other words had corresponding rhymes.

"Youth and bondage, don't rhyme," she said aloud to herself.

"What did you say?" the sorceress asked sharply.

"Youth…uh, truth!" Mira said happily. "considering what you lack… so I need truth and… wait, does anything actually rhyme with _bondage_?"

"Stop these games at once!" the sorceress said angrily.

But Mira leaned closer to cockatoo beside her.

"Tanya, I know you're afraid of being trapped in this stupid form where all you can do is copy others. But the truth is, you're still smart, and I can prove it. You just need two things to beat this curse. I've already given you the first one, _truth_ , which is that you're still you. Now tell me, what's the other thing you need?"

The bird kept looking sideways at her, but it didn't speak. And the sorceress laughed.

"Do you really think these fools can save themselves? My curse is too powerful. Their doom is sealed."

Mira just kept looking at Tanya.

"Don't listen to her. You can do this."

The cockatoo squawked and flapped its wings with sudden energy.

"Courage, courage!" it proclaimed.

The red light in the room was suddenly sapped away as the sorceress disappeared, and when Mira opened her eyes, she saw Tanya, in her right form as a duck, struggling to regain her balance.

"Whoa, what happened!?" she exclaimed. "Is the sun up?"

"No, you broke the curse!" Mira said excitedly, but then she looked and saw Mallory and Nosedive still in their cursed forms. "Oh, well, your curse, anyway."

Tanya looked around the room.

"I think they need help as I did," she said. "We're all afraid of different things, and those fears have to be dealt with in their own way."

"Well, at least you're here to help me," Mira said with some relief.

Tanya smiled, but suddenly a strange glow surrounded her and she started to fade. Mira reached for her, but her hands went right through Tanya.

"No! What's happening?"

"It's not the sorceress," Tanya said. "I don't know how I know, but I can tell this feels safe and good. Someone's trying to help me escape this place now that the curse is broken. I'm sorry! They're pulling me away!"

And then Tanya was gone, and Mira's shoulders fell in dismay.

"You're the one who sent me here, aren't you!" she called out. "Who are you?"

No answer.

"Hey, I could use a little more help here!" Mira shouted.

Before she stopped to consider the loudness of her voice, Mira heard the roar of Grin's cursed form out in the garden. He would come to the dining hall, and the other ducks were exposed to his rage.

"I guess I need to figure this out now, huh?" Mira said softly to herself.

With a sense of dread building in her heart, Mira pushed herself to walk quickly out into the garden. She was about to do the one thing everyone had always told her not to do. Their warnings echoed in her thoughts, but it couldn't be helped this time.

Only seconds after she stepped outside, Mira heard Grin coming towards her, and finally his massive form appeared in the light of the moon as he burst through the vegetation.

It was Grin, and yet, very much not him at the same time. He seemed to have grown larger, and his figure was hunched over as if burdened by the weight of his own brutish form. His misshapen beak seemed crooked, and in the gleam of the moonlight, Mira swore she could see fangs sticking out.

His eyes looked as if he had been blinded or covered by white lenses. And the way this monster moved, he seemed to be smelling and listening to the world, rather than seeing it. Mira began to feel that it would be impossible to reach the real Grin behind this creature. But as he began to stalk towards her, Mira knew that she had only seconds to make a choice.

 **If you believe the danger is too great to face, select D3 Run.**

 **If you believe Mira must try to speak to Grin, select D3 Don't Run.**


	36. D3 Run

D3 Run

Mira didn't wish to let fear ruin her chance to help Grin, but how could she face such a horrific creature? She turned and began to run towards the west side of the garden. She would go anywhere to get away from him, but she could hear the monster start to chase after her.

The sound of his noises, often mixed between groans and snarls, was awful. Thoughts kept replaying in her mind of how he would crush or tear into her if he caught her.

As Mira continued to run, she suddenly realized that the garden seemed much bigger than she had thought. And the trees and shrubs were beginning to glow with a tinge of red light. Finally, Mira stopped and realized that Grin wasn't chasing her anymore. In fact, she couldn't even see the castle anymore.

 _Where am I?_ Mira began to search for anything that might lead her back to the castle, but the night seemed to stretch on for endless hours as she wandered aimlessly.

It would take days of wandering around before she realized that she was trapped in a maze of perpetual darkness with no way to return to the castle … or to Anaheim.

Mira tried calling for help, but no one answered. Never had she felt so alone.

 **Ending #2 – You were able to help Mira save Tanya, but all of the other ducks are still trapped. And with Mira trapped as well, Tanya is all alone in Anaheim, trying to figure out how to reach a magical location without any help as to how to get there.**

 **If you want to try for a different ending, you still have choices. You can choose to go back to an earlier point in the story, when Mira wasn't trapped, and choose differently. Or the story can end here if you want.**


	37. D3 Don't Run

D3 Don't Run

It took every ounce of self-control to keep her feet planted on the ground as the strange creature loomed closer with heavy breathing and deep-throated groans. All of her instincts shouted at her to run.

"Everyone's been running and hiding from you," Mira said softly, finding her voice. "But I won't run tonight, Grin."

The brute opened his beak and released a cry of rage as he raised his fists in the air.

"I know this isn't you!" Mira shouted, trying to compete with his dreadful noise. "You're not a bully, Grin!"

He grunted and continued to stalk closer with a menacing pose as he swung his arms through the air.

"You're afraid of hurting someone," Mira continued. "But you won't! And you have to be brave enough to believe that."

He was almost right on top of her, and Mira knew that if something didn't change in the next second, it would all end.

"I believe it," she said calmly as she looked up into his empty gaze and misshapen face.

Standing before her, he seemed to finally grow still, though the sound of his heavy breathing continued. But all at once, the expression on his face softened, and the mist faded in his eyes.

"My friend…" his slow, rough voice said.

Mira reached out and put her hand on his arm.

"You have many friends, Grin. And you're not a bully or a monster … no matter what your fears tell you."

In the same amount of brief time it takes to wake up from a nightmare, Grin suddenly shrank in form and was himself again, peaceful, yet protective. His eyes widened with realization as he was released from the curse, and then he looked down at Mira with a smile.

"Thank you, little friend, for not being afraid of me."

Mira breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, I might have been a little anxious, but I knew who you were. I just wasn't sure if you would listen."

"I heard you," Grin assured her.

But then his figure began to glow, and it wasn't the light from the moon shining around him. He looked down at his form with some confusion.

"I cannot stay," he said with regret.

"Take care of yourself," Mira said as he disappeared. "Wherever it is that you're going… I'd really like to go too."

She sighed and looked around for the invisible force that seemed to be drawing people in and out of this world.

"I do the work, and someone else is getting the credit for the escape apparently," she muttered as she walked back to the castle.

Mira's impatience faded as she remembered the other ducks, who still needed to be freed from the curse. She couldn't give up on them.

As she walked back into the castle and then into the dining hall, Mira scanned the walls illuminated by firelight.

"Duke? Where are you?"

At last, a shadow rose and drifted towards her on east wall.

Mira laid her hand upon wall, and the shape of his hand reached out as far it could to her.

"It took me some time to understand your fears, but I think I get it now," she said. "It's been hard for you to find those you can trust, and now that you've found friends worth keeping, I think you're afraid of losing them."

Duke's head seemed to sink lower.

"This curse has made you feel so alone each night. Unlike the others, you were left awake and aware of all that happens at night, but you couldn't do anything to help them."

He nodded.

"You're not alone, Duke," Mira said as her tone surged with the warmth of encouragement. "You didn't abandon your friends, and you can trust your friends to stick with you."

All at once, the hard surface of the wall grew soft and molten under Mira's touch, but instead of Duke emerging freely from the curse, Mira felt that this time, she was being drawn into the wall. And the sudden thought that she might be get stuck as a shadow occurred to her. Her instincts told her to pull back, but then again, what would that mean for Duke?

 **If you think Mira should stay beside the wall, select D3 Risk It.**

 **If you think Mira should step back and keep talking to Duke, select D3 Pull Away.**


	38. D3 Risk It

D3 Risk It

Mira took a deep breath. If this was all about trust for Duke, then she needed to show him that she wasn't giving up.

"Duke, I don't know what's happening, but I'm not going anywhere. So are you going to help me or not?"

The section of the wall that seemed to be sucking her in grew bigger, and Mira watched as her hand disappeared through it, reflected as a dark shadow on the other side. She tensed and closed her eyes, but she didn't try to pull away.

Then, all at once, something firm gripped her, and with sudden force, it thrust her away from the wall. When she opened her eyes again, Duke was standing beside her, whole and himself again, and his hand was grasping hers. They were both away from the wall, which seemed to have resumed its normal solid form.

"Thanks," she said, drawing in a deep breath.

He smiled.

"I wouldn't have let it take you," he said. "But thanks for reminding me that trust goes both ways."

The strange force that had come for all of the other ducks now appeared again, and Duke noticed it pulling him away with surprise.

"Wait! What about you?" he said, looking at her.

"I still need to help the others," Mira said as she released his hand. "I'll see you soon."

Duke nodded once and then he was gone. Mira sighed and turned away. On the other side of the dining hall, Wildwing, Nosedive, and Mallory remained motionless in their cursed forms.

"Three down, and three to go," Mira reminded herself as she walked towards them.

As she approached, she heard a strange creaking sound grow louder. Looking around, her gaze finally settled on a heavy shield hanging from a height of about eight or nine feet on the wall. The ancient supports holding the shield in place were beginning to groan under the weight, and Mira could see that they weren't going to last much longer.

Mira looked down and realized that Mallory was lying on a bench beneath the shield. The glass figurine she had been turned into would be shattered when the shield fell.

Hurrying over to Mallory's side, Mira knew she had to act quickly.

"Mallory, I don't know if you can hear me, but I may have figured out why you turn into glass each night. If Puckworld is anything like Earth, then I'm guessing that as a girl, you had to work pretty hard to prove yourself. And even with your team, you and Tanya are the only girls."

The glass figure on the bed remained motionless.

"You're afraid of not being strong enough. Deep down, guys or girls, we're all a little fragile on the inside. And it's hard when you feel like you have to prove yourself. But this curse played on your fears of being weak. Now you're afraid that if you even move, you'll break."

One of the supports under the shield gave way, and Mira leaned forward over Mallory to try to keep it from falling on her, but it landed beside them as the shield began to tilt under its remaining supports.

"Mallory, there's no time. We have to fix this now!"

 **If you believe Mira should encourage Mallory to move on her own, select D3 Tell Mallory to Move.**

 **If you believe Mira should attempt to move Mallory out of harm's way herself, select D3 Try to Move Mallory.**


	39. D3 Pull Away

D3 Pull Away

Mira felt a sudden rush of fear pump adrenaline through her veins, and with a sense of panic, she pulled away from the wall before it could suck her in. She stumbled back and looked at her hand, which to her relief was whole and unchanged.

But when she looked back at the wall, Duke was still a shadow. He pounded against the wall, but he seemed trapped. The sound of cold laughter filled the room, and Mira turned around to see that the sorceress had returned.

"I love it when fear gets the better of you mortals," she said. "It's so entertaining to watch you abandon your friends in the attempt to save yourselves."

"No, that's not what I meant to do," Mira protested, and she tried to move back to the wall, but something prevented her.

Looking down, Mira saw a coil of red magic binding her ankle to the leg of the table. And when she turned her gaze back to the wall, she saw the dark spaces on the wall grow larger and start to surround Duke. The sorceress was manipulating them with her hands.

"No, stop!" Mira cried. "Duke!"

But there was nowhere for him to go. The darkness spilled over the wall and swallowed up his shadow. Then the firelight began to burn it away again, but Duke's shadow was gone.

"What have you done?" Mira demanded as she turned back to the sorceress.

"Don't worry. He's not gone," Alastrid said calmly.

She held up a spherical red crystal, and Mira saw a dark shape moving inside of it as if trying to escape.

"You confirmed his fears, and now he's my prisoner without any hope of escape," she boasted.

"No, you can't do this!" Mira protested.

"I can, because you had the chance to help this fool… and you failed."

With a wave of her magic, the sorceress disappeared again, but the magic binding her in place did not release her. And Mira glanced at the other ducks who were still imprisoned in their cursed forms.

She couldn't help but think about how disappointed they would be when they awoke and learned she had failed them.

 **Ending #3 – You were able to help Mira save Tanya and Grin, but all of the other ducks are still trapped, especially Duke.**

 **Each night Mallory, Nosedive, and Wildwing are still cursed. And Mira is bound by magic to the dining hall as a reminder of her failure to save Duke.**

 **With Mira trapped as well, Tanya and Grin have tried to find their own way back to the magical castle. But in the process of searching, they stumbled into a different dimension and are caught up in a new struggle of their own. They have started to despair of ever finding their friends again.**

 **If you want to try for a different ending, you still have choices. You can choose to go back to an earlier point in the story, when Mira wasn't trapped, and choose differently. Or the story can end here if you want.**


	40. D3 Tell Mallory to Move

D3 Tell Mallory to Move

Mira knelt down beside the bench.

"Mallory, I want to save you, but all I can do is remind you of the truth. _You_ have to be the one to find the courage to overcome this fear."

The glass figure remained motionless, and the shield was beginning to sway above them.

"I know you can move," Mira insisted with a determined tone. "You're just afraid that you're going to break if you do. But you won't, because you're stronger than you realize. You've just forgotten."

The creaking grew louder again, and Mira suspected that another support was about to give way. The whole shield might fall this time.

"If you don't move, then neither will I," Mira said. "But that shield is going to hurt both of us when it falls."

The noise increased, and Mira was distracted for a moment as she looked up nervously. But a sudden movement at her side drew her gaze back, and a glass hand seized her wrist with a firm but smooth grip. Mallory sat up, still in her glass form, but she swung her legs to one side and rose up, pulling Mira back.

The shield dropped from the wall as its last support gave way, and it fell with a heavy clang upon the bench. It crushed the wooden beneath its weight.

Mira drew in a deep breath and looked over to see Mallory standing beside her. But she still looked like she was made of glass. All at once, small cracks of light appeared in the glass, and Mallory released Mira's wrist. Mira had to shield her eyes as the light grew brighter, but when it faded, she saw that Mallory was herself again.

"I'm back," Mallory said with some relief as she looked down at herself. She leaned forward and hugged Mira.

But then she began to glow again, and Mira could feel Mallory being pulled away from her.

"I'll catch up with you," she told Mallory.

And then the fourth team member was gone, and Mira was standing by herself.

"I hope I'll catch up with them," she muttered. "It's hard to be sure of anything here."

Turning to the last two ducks, Mira walked over to Nosedive who was closer to her. It seemed likely that she would have to help him before she could help Wildwing. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anything dangerous about to fall on them this time.

"Okay, so at least we're not rushed."

But as Mira looked at the statue of Nosedive before her, she wasn't quite sure what the answer was here.

"So you're trapped like this each night…unable to speak or move, and it has something to do with what you're afraid of."

Mira reached out and touched his hand, still frozen in cold stone

"Are you afraid of being passed by and forgotten?"

There was no answer of course, but Mira felt like she was onto something here.

"Or to use a hockey metaphor, you don't want to be stuck on the bench, do you? But that can't happen, Nosedive. You're so important to this team, and they could never go on without you."

The statue remained.

"This curse has made you afraid that you're never going to break out of this… or that the world will pass you by and forget you. But it doesn't have to be that way. The old Nosedive would never give anyone the option of passing him up. You just have to jump back into the game and show everyone what you're made of."

Mira stood back and waited, but nothing seemed to be happening. There had to be something she could use to remind Nosedive who he was.

 **(This next choice involves code letters. You should have saved these letters from an earlier time when you read through the first two days of the story. If you made the right choice earlier in the story, then you will have the right code letter and Mira will be able to help Nosedive. If you made the wrong choice, Mira won't be able to help Nosedive break his curse. So which letter do you have?)**

 **If one of your code letters is N, select Code N from the chapter selection.**

 **If one of your code letters is Z, select Code Z from the chapter selection.**


	41. D3 Try to Move Mallory

D3 Try to Move Mallory

"Okay, we don't have time to wait around," Mira decided. "I just hope you're not too heavy in addition to being breakable."

She slipped her arms under Mallory's figure and slowly lifted her from the bench. Things seemed to be going well, and Mira managed to turn and carry Mallory towards the table.

"All right, see, everything's going to be fine," Mira said as she carefully set Mallory down on the table and started to back away.

But she suddenly noticed the sound of glass being chipped away or breaking. And chinks began to appear all over Mallory's form. The sorceress appeared on the other side of the table, and her red magic swept into the chinks. Mira watched as Mallory's essence was seized in the red light of the sorceress's power and drawn out of the glass figure that shattered into pieces.

The magic swept Mallory into a small crystal held by the sorceress who shot Mira a cruel smile.

"No, I saved her," Mira protested. "You can't do this!"

"Foolish girl. You do not understand," Alastrid scoffed. "You did not to ease her fears by having to save her. This duck needed to find the courage to break her own curse. You didn't give her the chance to do that."

"I can't let you take her," Mira said as she started to go around the table.

"It's too late. She's mine now," Alastrid assured her. "But if you like saving your friends so much, see if you can help the other two."

She laughed and disappeared with Mallory. Mira suddenly felt the castle tremble under her as if an earthquake had begun. The shield finally fell from the wall behind her, but now there was a threat that the whole castle would fall on top of them.

Mira rushed over to Wildwing and tried to pick him, but he was so heavy that she could only drag him. She managed to pull him out to the garden, and then she hurried back for Nosedive. But she couldn't manage to lift a stone statue.

Suddenly the floor gave way beneath her, and Mira fell into a deep cavern under the castle. The shaking stopped, and Nosedive remained a statue just a foot away from the edge of a deep pit.

In the darkness below, Mira managed to crawl out of some debris, but she cried out in pain and collapsed on the ground. She felt pain like she'd never known in her left leg and knew that it must be broken.

Mira stared up at the opening of the pit and wondered what would happen now.

 **Ending #4 – You were able to help Mira save Tanya, Grin, and Duke, but you lost Mallory, while Wildwing and Nosedive are still cursed.**

 **If you want to try for a different ending, you still have choices. You can choose to go back to an earlier point in the story, before this happened, and choose differently.**

 **Or the story can end here if you want.**


	42. D3 Code N

D3 Code N

Mira stared at the statue of Nosedive without knowing what else to try. She put her hands in her pockets and drew out the two keys that she had found on her first day in the castle, but what good were they to her now?

"If only I could get you to believe in yourself again," she said, looking up at him. "But I must have missed something if I can't help you break your curse."

Suddenly, a red light filled the room again, and the sorceress whisked past her, seizing the keys from her.

"I don't know where you found these talismans, but they won't help you now. You would have had to wake this one in stone before you could use them. But you've failed."

She laughed and shot out red magic that encased Nosedive and Wilding's figures in a circle of red magic.

"They will be my prisoners for all time."

"No!" Mira called out, but a strange glow surrounded her and drew her out of the castle.

When it faded, she found that she was standing before the other four ducks in the middle of a street in Anaheim.

"You're back," Mallory said with a smile, but it faded quickly. "Where's Nosedive and Wildwing?"

Mira looked around her helplessly … almost hoping to see the castle, or Nosedive and Wildwing.

"Then I really did fail them…" she realized.

"You mean they're still cursed?" Duke asked.

"Yes, and the sorceress came. She used her magic… and I couldn't get to them. I just don't understand what I did wrong."

A short elf-like figure walked out from behind Grin with a sad expression.

"I had hoped you would be able to save all of our friends," he said.

At Mira's confusion, Tanya stepped closer and said,

"This is Borg. He was with us when we defeated Asteroth, Alastrid's brother. He used his magic to send you to the castle to help us."

"Can you help Nosedive and Wildwing?" Mira asked quickly.

"My magic's not strong enough… not while that sorceress has fear to feed her power. That's why I sent you to help the ducks. But now she's taken two of our friends, and her magic is stronger because you couldn't free them. We can't save them now."

"No, that can't be true!" Mira insisted. "Please, there must be something."

"She's put up defenses to keep us out of her realm," Borg said as he shook his head.

The other ducks listened in dismay as their expressions conveyed the grief they felt.

"We can't be the Mighty Ducks without Wildwing and Nosedive," Tanya said sadly.

Borg walked over to Mira and held out a small device.

"I do possess one thing that might help us," he said. "This amulet lets me create a time spell that sends you back to an earlier hour. If you could go back and make different choices, perhaps you could save Nosedive and Wildwing before it's too late."

"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes," Mira agreed quickly.

Borg activated the device with these words:

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

Magic covered Mira's vision as the scenes around her began to change, and she felt things move around her.

 **You've reached Ending #5.**

 **(Okay, so in one sense to follow along with the concept of an interactive story, you would go back to Day One and go through the story to help Mira make different choices to try to find what she missed before, but if you don't wish to go back to the beginning, you can select D3 Tell Mallory to Move and just make a different choice there.)**


	43. D3 Code Z

D3 Code Z

Mira sighed as she stared at the statue in front of her.

"There has to be a way for me to reach you," she groaned and shoved her hands in her pockets.

Suddenly, she realized that there were a few items that she had forgotten about stored away in her jean pockets. Drawing them out, she saw silver and gold keys as well as a folded piece of paper.

"That's right," Mira remembered. "Something fell out of that comic book I found, but I never looked to see what it was."

Putting the keys back in her pockets, Mira opened the paper and saw a newspaper photo of Nosedive standing on top of a tricked-out Zamboni machine.

The caption underneath read: _Hockey-player squishes giant robot with Zamboni machine and saves Anaheim from freak weather._

Mira laughed.

"That sounds like you, Dive. See, you didn't let anything or anyone stop you on that day."

She held up the picture to the statue.

"This is the real you! Remember?"

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the stone surface began to crack and suddenly Nosedive broke out of it as stone fragments flew across the room. He was free and himself again.

"Score one for Mira!" he said with a huge smile. "Thanks for helping me get outta there!"

"You did it, Dive," she insisted.

The air around Nosedive began to glow, and he looked around at it.

"Whoa, like I need to deal with more magic right now," he protested.

Mira stood back and watched.

"I've got to help your brother still, and then maybe I'll see you again."

In another moment, he was gone, and Mira was alone except for Wildwing, who lay on the floor where he had collapsed in sleep. Mira kneeled down and rolled him over, and she noticed that now he didn't seem to be suffering from the torment of a nightmare. His sleep finally appeared peaceful, and Mira realized that with the other ducks freed from the curse, his fears were over.

"Well, how do I break his curse then?" she wondered aloud.

She leaned over and tried to shake him, but he did not stir. The memory of fairy tales about enchanted sleep came to her mind.

"I could try it, but it might be kind of weird if I had to kiss you to break the spell," Mira said.

He still remained motionless.

"Okay, truth and courage," Mira reminded herself. "Well, the truth is you're a great leader, and for courage… well, your teammates are all safe… at least I think they are, so you don't have to be afraid anymore."

And nothing happened.

"Oh, come on! This has been a really long evening. Why does this have to be difficult?"

Mira sighed, and then a thought occurred to her. She drew out the two keys that remained in her pockets. They were the ones she had found on her first day in the castle. One was silver and the other was gold. But what she was supposed to do with them?

Suddenly the keys reminded Mira of something, and she checked Wildwing's pockets until she found the ring of keys that he used to lock the doors at night. There was a tiny loop where one key seemed to be missing.

"There's five keys on this ring… and this last one makes six," she said aloud. "Is this what's missing here?"

Mira looked down at the two keys in her hand. There was only room for one of them to be placed on the ring, but which one should she try?

 **(This next choice involves code letters. You should have saved these letters from an earlier time when you read through the first two days of the story. If you made the right choice earlier in the story, then you will have the right code letter and Mira will be able to help Wildwing. If you made the wrong choice, Mira won't be able to help Wildwing break his curse. So which letter do you have?)**

 **If one of your code letters is G, select Code G from the chapter selection.**

 **If one of your code letters is S, select Code S from the chapter selection.**


	44. D3 Code G

D3 Code G

"In the castle records I found, gold represented something good, but silver was cruel like the sorceress," Mira remembered. "So let's go with gold."

She fastened the gold key to the remaining loop, and once that was done, the rest of the key ring seemed to glow. Mira quickly laid it on Wildwing's chest, and all of the keys disappeared, except for the golden one, which grew and changed shape. When the glow faded, a mask appeared where the keys had been.

Mira moved the mask to Wildwing's face, and it glowed as it settled upon his beak. The eyes lit up, and Wildwing suddenly rose up. He put a hand to his face and ran it over the mask.

"It's back. I haven't lost it," he said.

"I'm glad that worked," Mira said with relief. "I really felt stuck there for a minute."

Wildwing turned to her.

"Did you say you were going to kiss me?"

Mira's face grew slightly red.

"Uh, that was just a joke. I was just testing to see if you were really asleep."

He laughed and stood up.

"What am I, Sleeping Beauty?"

"I think it's best if I don't answer," Mira said.

The familiar glow appeared around Wildwing, but this time, Mira felt anxious as she watched it grow brighter.

"Wait, I don't want to be left alone," she said.

Wildwing tried to seize her hand, but his fingers couldn't grasp hers. He was already being pulled away. In another second, he was gone, and Mira looked around the room in confusion.

"Okay, I did it. I freed the ducks, and I would like to go home now… please?!"

The fire crackled in the hearth, but no one answered her.

"Seriously? You're just going to leave me here? Hey!"

But when magic returned to the castle, it in the form of the sorceress who appeared less than pleased.

"The ducks were mine to punish, and _you_ took them from me," she said darkly.

Mira backed away, but she didn't try to run.

"You're probably tired of me crashing at your castle. Maybe I could use that gate to get out of here and let you have the place to yourself?"

"The gate is gone," Alastrid said with the shake of her head. "Once you began freeing those troublesome birds, I destroyed it. I couldn't have anyone trying to leave by that way when the curse was being undone."

"Of course not," Mira sighed. "But trust me, I really don't think you want me to stay here. I'm not a great houseguest."

"Make your jokes, but you can't do that forever. All it takes is a spark of fear, and my power grows strong enough to cast a curse upon you. And everyone has moments of weakness and fear. Yours will come soon enough."

Mira tried to keep up her courage, knowing that it was her only protection against this sorceress, but could she do that forever? The thought of a lifetime of lonely imprisonment in this castle was daunting just by itself.

"I can already sense your doubts," Alastrid said with a cruel smile. "Fear will follow, and then I'll make you pay for breaking my curse."

But out of the shadows in that room, a bright light began to suddenly grow. It swept over the walls and ceiling until it surrounded the sorceress and Mira.

"What magic is this?" Alastrid demanded angrily. "Who dares draw me out of my own realm?"

Mira realized that she could feel that it was pulling her away too. She would escape the castle after all!

When the light cleared, Mira felt a little unsteady and she started to lose her balance, but a firm, yet gentle grip caught her. She looked up and saw Grin holding onto her, helping her stand.

"You came back for me," she said gratefully.

"No, we brought you to us, little friend," he said.

Mira looked around and saw the other ducks gathering around her. They had their weapons drawn and were preparing to face the sorceress. A thick mist surrounded all of them, and Mira could not tell where they were supposed to be, but she guessed it was at least away from the castle.

"You could not manage this kind of magic on your own," the sorceress asked, still sounding confused.

"Aye, foul fiend, they had help!" a tenor voice shouted beside the ducks.

Mira stared in surprise at the small elf-like figure that walked out and stood in front of the ducks.

"Fool princeling!" Alastrid exclaimed angrily. "You did this!"

"Not alone," he said. "I had the help of a courageous ally. And though she knew me not, I believed she had the strength to help our friends."

He gestured to Mira, but there was no time for more questions, as the sorceress readied herself to attack them.

"To arms, good friends!" the elf-prince shouted to the ducks as he drew a sword. "Her power is almost broken."

"Ducks Rock!" Nosedive shouted as he fired his puck launcher at Alastrid.

Many of the other ducks joined him. The sorceress tried to use her magic to block their shots, and she darted to one side, but Duke was there with his sabre. When she tried to flee to the other side, Grin moved to block her path.

Finally, she used her power to fly higher into the air, but the black color was draining from her hair as the red light of her magic grew dimmer. Gray-haired and older-looking, she used the last of her magic to open a dark portal.

"Brave fools! Your courage will only protect you for so long!"

Then she fled and disappeared as the portal vanished.

The ducks put their weapons away, and Borg made a sweeping motion with his hands. The mist cleared, and Mira realized that they were standing in Anaheim Park. The ducks greeted the short stranger warmly and thanked him for his help.

"What is going on?! And _who_ are you?" Mira asked when she found her voice. "I mean, that was awesome, but…"

"Forgive me, brave maiden," the little guy said as he walked up to her and bowed. "I am Borg, the prince of the mystical Anaheim that exists far from this place."

Mira looked over at the ducks with a confused expression.

"Borg was with us when we defeated Asteroth, Alastrid's brother," Duke explained.

"Yeah, he's a pretty cool friend," Nosedive said. "He knows all about this magic stuff. And he showed up in one of my comic books once. But like nobody believed me."

Mallory sighed and shook her head.

"We're still not sure about that part, but the point is, Borg is the one who sent you to the castle to help us."

"I don't understand. If you have magic, then why didn't you go save the ducks?" Mira asked, looking back at Borg. "Why send me? I don't know anything about magic."

"Precisely!" Borg said excitedly. "The sorceress would never have let me enter her realm. And when the ducks were trapped under her curse, her magic was too powerful for me to fight. Only someone whom she would _not_ suspect could help our friends."

"But what made you think I could help them?"

"I believed you cared for them as I did. And I knew that if you were led by your courage, then the sorceress would not have any power over you."

"So, whenever I acted bravely, you're saying she couldn't touch me?"

"Yes, exactly so! Courage weakens her power, while fear strengthens her vile sorcery. I could not use my magic to help the ducks until you freed them from the fear she had imprisoned them with."

"Wait, are you the one who sent me those keys and that parchment with the curse?"

"I did whatever I could to help you," Borg said with a nod. "But I did not know which of the keys you needed to use. I could only tell that both were talismans."

"Talismans?"

"Yes, they were made by the alchemist who used to live in the castle that Alastrid seized. But one of them was designed for a good purpose: to recover lost treasures, while the other was tainted by the sorceress's evil."

"So that's why the gold one helped me give the Mask to Wildwing," Mira realized.

"Yes, and now we can return to the Pond," Wildwing said, sounding relieved.

"Let's go surprise Phil," Nosedive laughed.

"It will be good to play hockey again," Grin said.

"And just get back to fightin' enemies like Dragaunus," Duke laughed.

"Yes, farewell, friends!" Borg said. "I must return to my own realm. But I am glad to see you safely returned home."

He waved goodbye and then disappeared through a small portal that opened into his Anaheim and then closed behind him.

Mira looked back at the ducks and then felt a strange reluctance well up inside of her.

"I guess I should be heading back to my apartment," she said. "It was great to get to meet all of you… even under the weird circumstances."

She started to turn away, but Mallory caught up with her and held her back.

"Hey, this doesn't have to be the end, you know."

Mira looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, tonight we could all use a good night's rest, but tomorrow's a different story, sweetheart," Duke said as he walked over and put his hand on Mira's shoulder.

Wildwing drew out a spare com and held it out to Mira.

"We're more than friends now. You've earned a place as part of this team… that is if you want it."

Mira reached out and took the com.

"Really?

"Yeah, you never know when we might need your help again," Tanya said.

"Or maybe there's like something we could do for you," Nosedive offered. "You don't have any problems with evil alien overlords, do you?"

Mira smiled.

"Not at the moment, but you'll be the first ones I'll contact if it ever comes up."

"That's right, girly-girl. Check this out!" Nosedive punched a button on his com and the Ghostbuster theme song began to play.

"Who you gonna call?" Nosedive sang, dancing around.

Grin reached over and gently took hold of Nosedive's arm as he pressed the button and turned the music off. Then he simply said,

"No."

"Aw, come on, man, it's a classic. Like us."

"No," Grin repeated as he released his friend's arm.

"We already have a theme song, Dive," Tanya groaned. "We've talked about this."

"Sure, and it's awesome, but why can't we have more than one?"

"Two words, Dive. Copyright infringement," Duke said.

"Yeah, right, like you're worried about stealing a song?"

Wildwing sighed.

"Mira, we'll see you tomorrow. I'd better get my brother out of here before he gets us into more trouble."

"Sure," she said, still smiling. "Hey, does this mean I can get into your games for free now?"

"Of course," Mallory called back as they started to walk off. "You'd be willing to referee some, right?"

"Yeah, that's not funny," Mira said. "Seriously, I'm not even that great on skates."

"We'll schedule some lessons," Wildwing said, leading his brother away and waving.

Mira waved back.

"For skating sure, not for refereeing… or you guys are kidding yourselves," she said to herself.

She stretched, feeling a little tired but rather contented at the same time. Her apartment was only a few more blocks away, and the comfort of her own bed was sounding pretty good.

As Mira walked off, a couple of figures walked out from behind a dumpster. One was lean and green, and the other was massive and moved like an armored tank.

"They'rrrre back," the little one said. "The boss is not gonna be happy about that."

"Looks like they made a new friend too," the other said. "We might have to do somethin' about that."

"Ooh, ooh, can we make a new friend too, Siege?"

The bigger one hit him over the head.

"I say that's the last time we trust some magical freak to take care of the ducks for us. Next time, we do it ourselves."

 **Congratulations! This is Ending #7, and hopefully the one you wanted to reach. As you can see, I left this open in case there is room for more interactive adventures with Mira and the ducks in the future. No promises right now, but I enjoyed writing this one, so I might write another if I have time.**

 **Please leave comments, especially if you'd like me to write another interactive story. Your feedback would be very helpful!**


	45. D3 Code S

D3 Code S

Mira weighed the two keys in her hand as she felt very unsure of which one to try.

"Well, I chose the silver room to stay in on my first night in the castle and that worked out, so let's go with silver again."

She put the gold key aside and placed the silver key on the ring. It began to shake in her hands, and when she dropped it, it fell upon Wildwing's chest. But a red light gleamed from it like the magic of the sorceress, and the key grew and transformed into chains that wrapped themselves around Wildwing.

He remained asleep, but Mira saw that the expression on his face reflected a sense of pain or struggle instead of peaceful rest. She leaned over and tried to pull the chains off of him, but they were too tight and heavy.

"The gold key," she said and whirled around to find it, but the sorceress appeared behind her and held the gold key in her hand with a smug expression.

"You chose poorly."

She tossed the key up, and to Mira's dismay, it vanished in the air.

"If only you knew something about this castle's history," the sorceress laughed. "Perhaps your heroic efforts might have succeeded."

"What does this castle's history have to do with this?" Mira demanded as she pointed at the chains around Wildwing.

"Those weren't really keys as you may have guessed. They were talismans. This castle once belonged to an alchemist, who enjoyed crafting metal objects and instilling them with magic. He relied upon my expertise for awhile, but when I grew bored with him, I claimed the castle for myself."

"What happened to the alchemist?" Mira asked.

The sorceress smiled.

"He met his end trying to take the castle back from me. But for all his efforts, he failed… just like you. Though he managed to leave behind a few magical objects. The gold key you ignored was his talisman for fetching lost items when they were needed most."

"And this?" Mira asked she pointed again at the chains.

"Oh, that's mine," the sorceress said. "But you can see what it does, can't you?"

"All of the other ducks are free," Mira protested. "You must release Wildwing."

The sorceress's smile vanished. She disappeared and appeared beside Wildwing, standing over him.

"You robbed me of my other prisoners, but this one's still mine. Trapped in his nightmares, his terror will feed my power. And I shall keep him wrapped in this sleep for all time."

Mira clenched her fists as she started to charge towards Alastrid, but the sorceress held out her staff and Mira felt herself being knocked aside. Then a strange light filled her vision, and it only cleared when she landed upon pavement.

Looking up, Mira recognized the street lights of Anaheim, and getting to her feet, she saw the five ducks standing nearby. They started towards her with warm expressions of gratitude, but then they stopped when they saw that she was alone.

"Where's Wing?" Nosedive asked as he walked up to her.

Mira looked down at her feet as a horrible feeling swept over her.

"I'm so sorry, Dive. I messed up."

"Messed up? How?" he repeated. "We can't leave my brother behind!"

"It's too late," a strange voice said.

As Mira looked for the speaker, she saw a short elf-like figure walked out from behind Grin with a sad expression.

"I thought you could save them all," he said, looking at Mira.

Tanya stepped closer and explained,

"This is Borg. He was with us when we defeated Asteroth, Alastrid's brother. He used his magic to send you to the castle to help us."

"You have magic?" she asked. "Why didn't you go to the castle yourself then?! Why did you think I could do this?"

"The sorceress would have stopped me. She was too strong. I needed to send someone she wouldn't expect."

"Can't you rescue Wildwing?" Mira pleaded.

Borg shook his head grimly.

"She's intensified her power. We can't even break through her magic to get back to the castle."

The other ducks listened in dismay as their expressions conveyed the grief they felt.

"Wildwing was our leader," Mallory said sadly. "We can't do this without him."

Borg walked over to Mira and held out a small device.

"I do possess one thing that might help us," he said. "This amulet lets me create a time spell that sends you back to an earlier hour. If you could go back and make different choices, perhaps you could save Wildwing before it's too late."

"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes," Mira agreed quickly.

Borg activated the device with these words:

 _You are safe, but the ducks are not yet free._

 _If you would help them, then you must go back in time and choose differently._

 _You have the power, but what your choice will be,_

 _We shall see._

Magic covered Mira's vision as the scenes around her began to change, and she felt things move around her.

 **You've reached Ending #6.**

 **(Okay, so in one sense to follow along with the concept of an interactive story, you would go back to Day One and go through the story to help Mira make different choices to try to find what she missed before, but if you don't wish to go back to the beginning, you can select D3 Code Z and just make a different choice there.)**


End file.
